The profit earnings of WellPoint Inc. were down by 11 percent, after the company reported its third-quarter results on Wednesday. WellPoint Inc., one of the largest publicly traded health insurers, is based on enrolment and provides fully insured plans for small businesses.

“The nation's largest health insurer by members remains confident about the outlook for the current quarter and expects net growth of more than 400,000 national members in January,” said Angela Braly, Chairman and Chief Executive.

WellPoint has shown signs of improvements, after the company had introduced more-affordable products and expanded retention programs during the black year of recession.

Though, WellPoint reported a profit of $730.2 million in the third quarter, but at the same time, the company incurred a loss of $ 90.5, since last year, which was $1.78, above the average of what the analyst had estimated.
WellPoint shares were up 11 per cent in the year 2009, which was a high of 2.9 per cent in the premarket.

The recession has hurt health insurers because employers have cut jobs and reduced the number of people covered by employer-sponsored group health insurance. Some companies, especially small businesses, have dropped health coverage entirely.

Employer-sponsored health coverage is "the bread and butter business" for insurers, BMO Capital Markets analyst Dave Shove said in a recent note.