Humana Exits Employer Medical Insurance to Focus on Medicare

Humana Inc. will stop selling medical insurance coverage to employers in order to focus on its lucrative core government business, mainly operating private Medicare plans.

Humana had just under 1 million members in commercial medical plans at the end of last year, or less than 6% of its total medical membership of about 17 million. It will stop providing commercial insurance and self-insured plans to employers over the next 18 to 24 months, according to a statement Thursday.

Health insurers are increasingly oriented around public programs, especially Medicare, the US health program for elderly and disabled people. An aging population ...