A Pain in the B*tt

Feb. 2008: "Aetna Inc. said it will delay a proposed policy that would stop covering the cost of using anesthesiologists during colonsocopies." Wall Street Journal

April 2008: "Under stewardship, Aetna achieved one of the more remarkable turnarounds in business history. Today ...Aetna's valuation has grown nearly nine-fold (since 2001) to $29 billion. Net earnings for 2006, were $1.7 billion." HR Magazine

Interesting. If the company earned $1.7 billion while covering safe, effective anesthesia for their over-50 clients, how much more will they earn by discontinuing coverage? Is $1.7 billion not enough to guarantee long term success of the company? Are greedy anesthesiologists gouging the struggling insurance company for unnecessary drugs and fees, just because they can? Maybe. I notice the proposed policy has only been delayed, not discarded. Aetna must still be analyzing the risk/benefit factors, including the long term coverage costs for late - diagnosed colon cancer patients. Geez, health care management is such a pain in the b*tt!