Cigna Will Cut 3,000 Jobs; Drop in Policyholders Is Cited

[UpInArms]

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/02/07/business/07cigna.html

The Cigna Corporation said yesterday that it would cut about 9 percent of its work force, or 3,000 jobs, after the ranks of its health care policyholders fell sharply in the fourth quarter of last year. The announcement sent its shares tumbling.

Cigna, struggling to recover after failing to price premiums in line with skyrocketing medical costs in recent years, posted a fourth-quarter net profit but also said it would cut its quarterly dividend sharply.

<snip>

Cigna posted net income of $290 million, or $2.06 a share, in the fourth quarter, compared with $47 million, or 33 cents a share, in the period a year earlier. Before items like investment gains, the company said it earned $1.65 a share in the quarter.

...more...

[moremorfordplz]

1. Gee...

Thanks, Dubya. I wonder how many children will be kidnapped, and how many pop singers' breasts bared on live TV, in order to distract us from THIS disaster. Or is it only bad poll returns and dead soldiers that get that kind of treatment. We shall see.

[moremorfordplz]

2. I found it!

You gotta give Rove and the Shrub points for originality.

http://www.azcentral.com/sports/azetc/0206ussoccer.html#

"ZAPOPAN, Mexico - The Mexican crowd hooted "The Star-Spangled Banner." It booed U.S. goals. It chanted "Osama! Osama! Osama!" as U.S. players left the field with a 2-0 victory.

And that was in a game against Canada on Thursday before just 1,500 people."

NOw let's hear some more about supposed "anti-Americanism" while soldiers die and more and more people hit the bread line and the soup kitchens.

[demsrule4life]

5. Just wondering

How does a president (any president) have anything to do with what a private corporation decides to do as long as it is not against the law? Should the Govt mandate that private companys cannot let people go if they don't need them?

[moremorfordplz]

7. To your last question...

Yes.

To your first question, I can't answer because I am laughing too hard. Wake up and smell the java, my friends. The Shrub counts on your blindness, on the delusions being fed to you by the ROTUS-controlled media. Learn to question *everything* you are told, especially if you hear it from the right-wing wacko media. Even Mother Jones and The Nation are controlled by those who pull Dubya's strings. This has his fingerprints and theirs all over it.

it is time to take off the blinders.

[demsrule4life]

8. Putting flame jacket on

Wasen't it our party that signed the NAFTA agreement? I have been bitching for 20 years about jobs, esp manufacturing jobs leaving our country. This problem goes beyond the two parties, it is a national disaster. At least lately more attention has been brought up on the subject.

[stromboli]

3. vanishing jobs

i'm still wondering if all these instances where thousands of jobs are being lost is just a setup for a run of prosperity starting around June/July. Imagine Bush waving his furry hand and suddenly the big corporations 'create' thousands of new jobs, employment rates skyrocket, stock market soars, and everyone is suddenly stuffed fat and happy for November. Not that i'm suggesting big business would scheme to keep the republicans in power... i mean, what could they have to gain?

[JPace]

11. Big business is always going to do what it takes

to make profits. There is no wavering in their
focus on this one goal. We are losing jobs because
big business makes more profit hiring cheap foreign
labor and abandoning American workers. It is our
government that is supposed to make laws that protect
Americans and the AWOL regime is making sure all
their bills favor big business and not the common
American. This government if for, by, and of big
business.

Welcome to DU!

[saigon68]

15. More job Recovery from the CHIMPANZEE

especially if one lives in Bombay or New Dehli

[will work 4 food]

4. Trickle up

<quote>the ranks of its health care policyholders fell sharply in the fourth quarter </quote>

The trickle up effect of layoffs:cry:

[camero]

6. They keep pricing people out of the market

It's no wonder.

[hippiechick]

10. and their service sucks !

CIGNA was the carrier for my company and we had the most difficult time getting claims paid, dr's were dropping out because CIGNA wouldn't pay them, the provider network got to be so small that a new patient visit, instead of happening within a month or two of selecting said provider - would be 5-6 months down the road !

I completely dropped coverage and now pay upfront for all my healthcare & get reimbursed from my Flexible Spending Plan. Dr's around here seem to prefer cash payments to dealing with insurance companies.

CIGNA sucks !!!


:hippie:

[nclib]

12. We dropped them too.

Their monthly rate went up a ridiculous amount so we went with another health care plan. Luckily my husband's place of employment offers more than one option.

[54anickel]

9. 117,556 layoffs announced in January, let's see what Feb brings

Could be a sign of things to come....

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/02/03/national/main597702.shtml

(CBS MarketWatch) Announcements of job reductions by U.S. corporations surged 26 percent in January to 117,556, the highest since October, according to a monthly tally by outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas.

snip>

January 2004 layoffs were 11 percent lower than January 2003's 132,222 and 53 percent lower than January 2002's 248,475.

The survey tracks announcements of layoffs and other job reductions, not actual layoffs. The reductions can be accomplished immediately or over time. The reductions can occur through involuntary layoffs, voluntary resignations or retirements.

snip>

Challenger said outsourcing jobs overseas and increased merger and acquisition activity could boost the number of layoffs this year, even as the economy improves.

snip>

In January, consumer product companies cut 22,775 jobs, the most of any sector last month and the largest month of cuts in that sector since the survey began. Financial services announced 15,157 cuts while retail planned to cut 14,016.

[leesa]

13. Insurance companies are pricing themselves out of the market

No one can afford to purchase their exorbitant insurance. You would think the greedy bastards would have seen this coming.

[SharonAnn]

14. You're sure they'renot moving the jobs to India, or elsewhere?

I just don't trust these kinds of figures. It seems that we usually find out later that they acually hired and ramped up job operations overseas.