Question-and-Answer Session
Thank you. We'll hear first from Charles Boorady with Citi.
Charles Boorady - Citigroup
Thanks. Good morning. My first question relates to current medical trends. I'm wondering if you can comment on the components recent medical trends, and why the slowdown that we've been hearing about from hospitals, pharmacies and others, isn't having a positive rather than a negative impact on your prior-period reserve developments for the commercial business?
Joseph M. Zubretsky - Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Charles, hi. This is Joe. As we indicated at the end the second quarter, we saw our medical trend of 7.5% plus or minus 50 basis points, start to move to the upper-end of the range. And clearly, we're confirming that it has done that and in fact should move to 8% for 2009. I can honestly say, it's no one major healthcare cost category that's providing that increase, utilization is clearly under control and we're seeing some modest uptick in unit cost. I'll turn it over to Mark for further comments.
Mark T. Bertolini - President
Sure, Charles. We're actually seeing in the potential for some pressure on the provider side for higher price... unit price increases in 2009. And so, we're guarding against that. We actually bringing in pricing into our renewing business back in April, late April, an extra point to a point and a half, across all of our books of business segments, to accommodate for what we thought would be an increase of this half a base... 50 basis points in the trend going into 2009.
Charles Boorady - Citigroup
And then a specific component to medical trend, is that something you can give us the specific sign in terms of those unit increases and volumes?
Joseph M. Zubretsky - Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
We'll give detailed guidance at our fourth quarter earnings call for 2009. We'll update you on the medical cost categories. Right now they're all behaving as plan and guidance hasn't changed for 2008.
Charles Boorady - Citigroup
Okay. I'll just ask my last question then on Medicare Advantage group retiree business. Has that opportunity sort of fizzled with the elimination of deeming or large employers in light of the state of the current economy, looking even more aggressively to shift retirees towards your group that may operate?
Mark T. Bertolini - President
Charles, this is Mark. We still see a lot of interest in group private fee-for-service retiree business. There is a slowing as we go through this political change to see what indeed may happen to funding for the product. However, we continue to have discussions. The deeming issue for us is not as big an issue. We have a couple of years to get in front of that, we already have the network efforts underway to support the markets where we have group retiree business.
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