Aetna

There's never a dull moment on Wall Street, especially when new tablets and old banks are in the way. Let's go over some of the items that will help shape the week ahead once Monday rolls around.

The recent pushback on health care reform appears to have boosted the stock prices of health insurance companies, which have outperformed major indexes by quite a margin so far this year. That's because Americans have been cutting back on doctor visits, keeping reimbursement costs low.

Insurance giant Aetna (AET) reported a 63% jump in earnings per share for the third quarter. The company reported earnings per share of $1.19, up from 73 cents per share a year earlier, Aetna said in a statement. Sponsored Links The company attributed the jump in earnings to a higher commercial...

IBM and Aetna's ActiveHealth Management subsidiary have jointly launched the Collaborative Care Solution, a new cloud-computing and clinical-decision support system that aims to improve medical practices at hospitals, helping them provide better care at a lower cost.

One in five medical claims is processed inaccurately by health insurers, the American Medical Association said on Monday. Eliminating these errors could save the health care system save $15.5 billion of the $210 billion it spends annually on claims processing.

Federal legislators have found a major hole in the regulation of health insurance premiums before the new health care reform takes effect. This hole could lead to even more dramatic increase in premiums than the 39% increase announced by Anthem in California in February as the health care law was...

Starting in 2011, medical insurance companies will have to meet new rules on profitability. They will need to spend at least 85% of dollars collected in premiums for the large group market on medical care and at least 80% of premiums collected in the individual and small business group market on...

President Obama can't be pleased by the loss of a Democratic Senate seat which jeopardizes passage of his cherished health-care reform. The news, however, appears to have fueled a mini stock rally in the health-care and pharma sectors wary of how any reform would affect their businesses. The uptrend is expected to continue.

Advocates for lower cost health care have for some time argued that arming consumers with data about the costs of medical procedures would help drive down prices. Insurers, however, have kept a tight lid on what they pay doctors and other health care providers, arguing that such information is...

Wall Street may be roaring again and manufacturers see a bright future selling their wares in Asia. But for many Americans, it's still a downturn until the jobs come back. This week, earnings from several companies with deep ties to corporate payrolls, consumer demand and the labor market will...