Core and Group Health

Aflac obviously needs no introduction. Say what you want about the company and its iconic water fowl, but they practically reinvented insurance marketing.

Major health insurers should detail results that stack up well to expectations when they begin reporting on the fourth quarter, but investors will be focused more on how the new year is shaping up, according to analysts who cover the sector.

UnitedHealth Group Inc. will give investors their first sense for whether major health insurers have been bitten by an intense flu season when it reports fourth-quarter results Thursday.

WellPoint Inc.'s acquisition of fellow health insurer Amerigroup will help the company's business in a Medicaid market primed for growth, but it still faces challenges from the health care overhaul's upcoming coverage expansions, according to a Goldman Sachs analyst.

The Obama administration released new regulations Monday on some key provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, including Medicaid expansion and state exchanges.

Employees and agents raised the money, with support of the company, in just eight weeks.