Aetna Inc. (AET) is seeing a more active flu season this winter, but isn’t expecting the kind of high-cost situation that hit a few years ago, the health insurer’s top official said Tuesday.
Insurers and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention alike have noted that the flu season is off to an early start. An active season can hike costs for insurers–which saw very light flu seasons the last two years–by sending members to the doctor and hospital more often.
Aetna typically spends about $40 million to $50 million a year on flu costs, although the amount has been much less in the last couple winters, Chief Executive Mark Bertolini said. In contrast, the insurer spent about $100 million during the H1N1 flu pandemic in 2009, he noted.
“We don’t see this flu season, even at its worst, getting close to that,” Mr. Bertolini said. He addressed the matter during the J.P. Morgan health-care conference.
“We have seen the spike in intensity that everybody else has,” Mr. Bertolini said. But that has been moderated by fewer in-patient hospital admissions than seen in other seasons, he said.
Speaking at the same event Monday, Cigna Corp. (CI) Chief Executive David Cordani also acknowledged some increases in health-care usage due to the virus, but “nothing dramatic.”
Separately, Mr. Bertolini said pricing in the commercial health-insurance market is “rational.” A Wall Street analysts’ report last raised some concerns pricing may not keep pace with rising health-care costs this year.
Aetna shares fell 3.4% to close at $44.38 Tuesday.