Dive Brief:
- Aetna has raised its 2015 forecast after a 17% jump in first-quarter earnings due to enrollment gains, moderate cost growth and first-quarter growths in operating earnings, revenue and enrollment. The insurer's net income also jumped from $665.5 million last year to $777.5 million.
- The company's enrollment is up 4% after more than 950,000 people were signed up through public insurance exchanges. Aetna says more than 90% of its customers received a government subsidy.
- Following the announcement on Tuesday morning, company shares rose to an all-time high.
Dive Insight:
Overall, payers are more optimistic this year than they were at the beginning of last year, when there was uncertainty over Medicare Advantage funding cuts and the initial open enrollment period for the public exchanges. "I just think, on the margin, things seem a little bit clearer than they did a year ago," Aetna Chief Financial Officer Shawn M. Guertin told ABC News.