The acquisition HealthSpring for $3.8 billion last year helped lift Bllomfield health insurer Cigna Corp.’s net income by 49 percent in the fourth quarter, The Associated Press reports.
That deal helped Cigna gain a bigger stake in the fast-growing market for Medicare Advantage plans, which are privately run versions of the government’s Medicare insurance program for the elderly and disabled. Cigna operates health care, group disability and life insurance segments in the U.S. It also sells coverage overseas and has an expatriate option for people living outside their home countries.
Cigna also on Thursday raised its 2013 earnings forecast.
Cigna earned $406 million, or $1.41 per share, in the three months that ended Dec. 31. That compares with earnings of $273 million, or 98 cents per share, in the final quarter of 2011. Excluding results from one of the discontinued businesses, adjusted earnings totaled $1.57 per share in the most recent quarter.
Revenue climbed 40 percent to $7.62 billion, helped by Cigna’s HealthSpring acquisition.
Analysts expected, on average, earnings of $1.48 per share on $7.38 billion in revenue, according to FactSet.
