The second largest phone company Verizon Communications Inc. has become the latest company to incur $970 million worth of expenses related to the US health care.

Yesterday, it was told by Verizon, which is New York based firm, that the onetime cost would be taken in the first quarter and it would be a non cash cost.

After losing tax benefits for the retiree plan, Verizon following AT&T Inc., the biggest U. S. carrier, Deere & Co., Caterpillar Inc. and other companies disclosed similar expenses.

"While it is a non-cash charge, it does reflect real value destruction, based on expected cash flows over the life of the company", said Jonathan Schildkraut, an analyst at Jefferies & Co. in New York.

It was told by AT&T that that in the first quarter it would record $1 billion in costs related to the changes.

The Americans who are uninsured should be provided with medical coverage in the $1 trillion program and the insurance companies should be forced to lift restrictions.

It was predicted by the analyst before the announcement that Verizon would report its first quarter profit excluding some items of 56 cents a share. These estimates were compiled by Bloomberg.

Craig Mathias, founder of wireless consultant Farpoint Group said that, as the economy recovers in about a year time, consumer prices for communication may rise.