Wellpoint slips after declining to provide 2013 guidance

Health insurer Wellpoint (WLP) is falling after the company's CFO, Wayne DeVeydt, said the insurer isn't prepared yet to provide guidance for its 2013 results. DeVeydt, speaking today at Morgan Stanley’s healthcare conference, cited several reasons for Wellpoint's reluctance to provide 2013 guidance, including difficulties the company is having with its commercial business, and changes associated with the Affordable Care act. Meanwhile, the CFO added that the company hadn't yet set a timeline for finding a permanent replacement for former CEO Angela Braly, who resigned on August 28. Braly was replaced on an interim basis by John Cannon who had been serving as the insurer's general counsel. The other members of Wellpoint's management team have been told by the board that they will retain their positions, Bloomberg quoted DeVeydt as saying. In mid-afternoon trading, Wellpoint dropped $1.19, or 1.97%, to $59.10, while peers UnitedHealth Group (UNH), Aetna (AET), and Molina (MOH) also pulled back.