An analyst for JPMorgan upgraded shares of WellPoint Inc. and Cigna Corp. Monday, saying the stocks should trade higher as the details of a federal health care reform bill come into focus.

Health insurer Aetna said Wednesday it will cut 625 jobs immediately, or nearly 2 percent of its staff, and will make a similar number of cuts by the end of the 2010 first quarter due to the lagging economy and the potential impact of health care reform.

What follows is a roundup of corporate earnings reports for Thursday, Nov. 5.

Stocks edged up Thursday, with a brighter outlook from Procter & Gamble and a better-than-expected jobless claims report, countering a dim forecast from Monsanto.

Stocks edged up Thursday, with a brighter outlook from Procter & Gamble and a better-than-expected jobless claims report, countering a dim forecast from Monsanto.

Costs for employer-provided health plans are expected to rise more than 10 percent within the next year, a jump workers may feel in their paychecks or through changes to their insurance coverage.

For the insurance industry, long an opponent of health care reform, it was a striking change: with a new administration coming to Washington, insurers agreed to abandon some of their most controversial practices, like denying coverage to applicants with pre-existing medical conditions.

Stocks rallied Thursday as investors were encouraged by the latest jobless report and round of corporate earnings.

Stocks rallied Thursday as investors were encouraged by the latest jobless report and round of corporate earnings.

Futures indicated a higher open for Wall Street on Thursday as investors were encouraged by the latest jobless report and round of corporate earnings.

A general air of uncertainty over what Washington has in store for health care reform is spreading to Wall Street, where investors are leery over what ramifications the undertaking will have on portfolios.

A Seattle clinic for people fed up with insurance, started by doctors fed up with insurance, has gotten $4 million in private venture capital money to expand.

Health insurance is supposed to offer protection — both medically and financially. But as it turns out, an estimated three-quarters of people who are pushed into personal bankruptcy by medical problems actually had insurance when they got sick or were injured.