Lower 4th Quarter Earnings for Humana Means Trouble

The Associated Press reports in this post in DailyAdvance.com that the health insurer Humana has reported huge fourth quarter loss in earnings due to higher claim expenses from its stand-alone Medicare prescription drug plans, lower investment income and a loss in its commercial business. The company though, is forecasting a huge turnaround in 2009, with share earnings ranging from $5.90 to $6.10, compared to $3.83 at year end. Humana Chief Operating Officer Jim Murray even mentions:

"We're doing them much more vigorously and identifying new opportunities to evaluate data that makes us feel much more comfortable than we did at this point last year."

Is the expected turnaround for Humana feasible? What are your thoughts?