Aetna Throws in the Towel

It appears Aetna is caving to Obamacare. In a recent conference meeting, Aetna CEO Bertolini declared health insurance carriers to be extinct.

Bertolini said an amalgamation of regulatory, demographic and economic factors were driving this change. The Affordable Care Act in particular, with its ban on medical underwriting, had made the traditional health insurance business model untenable in the long term, he said.

Bertolini offered a strong endorsement of the accountable health organization model, positing health insurers as uniquely suited to usher in an era of coordinated care. “We need to move the system from underwriting risk to managing populations,” he said.

Managing populations?

Sounds "big brother-ish".