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Humana shares fall as US health insurer cost worries grow

By Reuters  
   July 31, 2014

U.S. health insurer Humana Inc reported a lower profit owing to higher costs on Wednesday, as mounting concerns about increased medical spending drove health insurance industry shares lower for a second straight day. Humana said its higher costs were related to medical spending by new enrollees in the exchanges created under President Barack Obama's healthcare reform law, investments for those exchanges and costly new hepatitis C drug treatments. Humana shares fell 6.5 percent to $119.26, while WellPoint Inc, which also announced earnings on Wednesday, declined 1.9 percent to $110.45. Aetna Inc, which reported higher medical costs on Tuesday, fell 3.8 percent, UnitedHealth Group Inc declined 2.7 percent and Cigna, which reports on Thursday, fell 1.9 percent.

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