Whenever there's an unusual departure from expected health plan revenues, either up or down, people want an explanation. And there's no shortage of possible reasons for the income increase. Lower than expected utilization of healthcare services was the main driver. Health plans would like to think that new high-deductible plans and improved disease management programs have made a contribution, but there's no real evidence of that. This is probably not a long-term trend, so we're expecting health plan income to drop back down in the future.
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