Blue Cross and Blue Shield health plans insured 1.1% fewer people in September 2010 than one year earlier, according to new research.

The 261 companies who actively market Medicare Advantage plans to seniors in the U.S. enrolled 11.5 million Medicare beneficiaries in the 2010 enrollment season.

Calling it a “regrettable but necessary” reduction of its workforce, Humana announced it will cut 2,500 positions this year, but balance that with 1,100 additional jobs in some departments, including medical-cost containment, specialty products and pharmacy management.

Membership in the nation’s top health insurance plans fell by 1.3% in the third quarter of 2009, as the recession and high unemployment rates battered enrollments, according to a new report.

Medicare Advantage plan enrollment fell 2.8% in January, compared to the prior month, leading one analyst to call the preliminary results for the 2010 open-enrollment period “troublesome.”

The national federation of Blue Cross and Blue Shield licensees saw a small decrease in the number of people it provides health insurance coverage to, according to a new analysis.

The nation’s eight largest health insurance companies collectively lost 836,000 members in the first six months of the year, as commercial enrollment sagged.

The percentage of premiums paid to health plans going toward medical expenses is rising.

The percentage of premiums spent on medical expenses ranged from 81% to 96% in the first quarter …  Read →