<!doctype html public "-//W3C//DTD W3 HTML//EN"> <html><head><style type="text/css"></style><title>profits and premiums</title></head><body> <div>This juxtaposition tells a story--</div> <div>marta</div> <div><br></div> <div><img src="http://www.californiahealthline.org/content/pdfuploads/072502.gif" ><img src="http://www.californiahealthline.org/images/white_pix.gif" height="10"><br> <img src= "http://www.californiahealthline.org/images/chl_aroundcalifornia.gif"></div > <div><br></div> <div>Increased Cost of Employee Health Coverage Impacts State's Midsized Companies the Most, Survey Finds</div> <div>Increased health insurance costs have "hurt the state's midsized companies hardest because they lack the power" of larger companies to negotiate reduced rates from insurers or the ability of small businesses to eliminate health benefits, according to a new industry survey, the Los Angeles Daily News reports.</div> <div><a href= "http://www.californiahealthline.org/members/basecontent.asp?contentid=46267&collectionid=3&contentarea=32096"><span ></span>More</a></div> <div><a href= "http://www.californiahealthline.org/members/basecontent.asp?contentid=46268&collectionid=3&contentarea=32096"><span ></span>WellPoint Announces 71% Increase in Second-Quarter Profit</a></div> <div>Thousand Oaks-based WellPoint Health Networks Inc., the largest publicly traded Blue Cross Blue Shield health plan in the nation, yesterday announced a 71% increase in second-quarter profit, the Los Angeles Times reports.</div> <x-sigsep><pre>-- </pre></x-sigsep> <div>Marta Russell<br> Los Angeles, CA<br> http://www.disweb.org</div> </body> </html>