Fitch affirms health insurers; outlooks up to stable

Fitch Ratings said it affirmed the long-term issuer default ratings of Humana Inc. at BBB, Coventry Health Care, Inc. at BBB, Cigna Corp. at BBB+, Health Care Service Corp. at A, UnitedHealth Group Inc. at A, WellPoint, Inc. at A, Anthem Holding Corp. (formerly known as WellPoint Health Networks Inc.) at A, Anthem Insurance Cos., Inc. at A+ and Aetna, Inc. at A.

Fitch said it also revised the outlooks on these companies to stable from negative.

The affirmations and revisions follow Fitch's revision of the outlook for the U.S. Health Insurance and Managed Care sector to stable from negative.

The affirmations and revised outlooks reflect the belief that health care reform's impact on the issuers' business models and operating fundamentals will be manageable, Fitch said.

The rating actions also reflect the view that health and managed care issuers' credit profiles will continue to be supportive of current ratings and the expectation that operating and financial trends will remain within reasonable ranges of the generally strong levels achieved in recent years, Fitch said.

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