Jeremy C. Owens – Marketwatch
After its merger with Aetna was called off Tuesday, Humana Inc. said that it will stop offering commercial health insurance to individuals on state exchanges and buy back $2 billion in stock. Humana, which said it is owed a $1 billion breakup fee from Aetna, said it will focus on care for people living with chronic conditions moving forward. The company said it will give up its business of offering individual commercial medical coverage on the 11 state exchanges in which it currently operates as of Jan. 1, 2018. “As an independent company, we will continue to innovate and sharpen our focus on the local healthcare experience of all our members, especially seniors living with chronic conditions,” Chief Executive Bruce Broussard said in the announcement. Humana plans to repurchase $2 billion worth of shares, with an accelerated repurchase of $1.5 billion in the current quarter. The article is here.
