Health insurers slide after Elevance cuts annual profit forecast on higher medical costs

** Shares of health insurers fall after Elevance ELV.N cut its annual profit forecast due to higher medical costs

** ELV trims annual profit forecast to about $30 per share, compared with a previous projection of $34.15 to $34.85 per share, analysts on average were expecting $34.23, according to data compiled by LSEG

** For the second quarter, Elevance reported a medical loss ratio, the percentage of premiums spent on medical care, of 88.9% compared to analysts' estimates of 88.70%.

** Shares of major health insurers decline: Centene CNC.N down 2.3%, Molina Healthcare MOH.N down 5.1%, CVS CVS.N down 0.7%, and Cigna CI.N down ~1%

** Centene and Molina Healthcare previously cut their annual profit forecast as both insurers grappled with high medical costs, underscoring industry-wide struggles over the past two years to rein in surging medical costs in government-backed plans

** Including session's move, shares of CNC, MOH fall 50.4%, 28.1%, while CVS and CI up 42.1% and 9.7% YTD