Profits swell at Mass. Blues, shrink at Harvard Pilgrim, Tufts

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Massachusetts, Boston, continued its wildfire profit growth, posting a 109% jump in first-quarter net income to $32.4 million from $15.5 million in the year-ago quarter. Revenue rose 20% to $1.2 billion, as the not-for-profit insurer added almost 80,000 new members year-over-year. In 2003, net income at the Blues plan climbed 174% to $232.3 million. Meanwhile, Fallon Community Health Plan, Worcester, Mass., saw its first-quarter net income rise 55% to $2.8 million. Other Massachusetts insurers weren't so successful: First-quarter net income declined 33% to $5.9 million at Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, Wellesley, and fell 36% to $828,000 at Tufts Health Plan, Waltham. -- by Laura B. Benko