9 unchanged sentences
Additional risks that we currently do not know about or that we currently believe to be immaterial may also impair our business operations.
+Added: Risks Related to Our Business and Our Industry
Our results of operations have been adversely affected and could in the future be materially adversely affected by the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.
3 unchanged sentences
governmental, business and individuals’ actions that have been and continue to be taken in response to the pandemic;
+Added: the distribution and effectiveness of vaccines;
the impact of the pandemic on economic activity and actions taken in response;
64 unchanged sentences
In addition, consolidation in the industry may result in carriers performing more of such services in-house.
−Removed: A cybersecurity attack or other disruption to our information technology systems could result in the loss, theft, misuse, unauthorized disclosure, or unauthorized access of customer or sensitive company information or could disrupt our operations, which could damage our relationships with customers or employees, expose us to litigation or regulatory proceedings, or harm our reputation, any of which could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations.
−Removed: We rely on information technology to support our business activities.
−Removed: Our business involves the storage and transmission of a significant amount of personal, confidential, or sensitive information, including the personal information of our customers and employees, and our company’s financial, operational and strategic information.
−Removed: As with many businesses, we are subject to numerous data privacy and security risks, which may prevent us from maintaining the privacy of this information, result in the disruption of our business and online systems, and require us to expend significant resources attempting to secure and protect such information and respond to incidents, any of which could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations.
−Removed: The loss, theft, misuse, unauthorized disclosure, or unauthorized access of such information could lead to significant reputational or competitive harm, result in litigation or regulatory proceedings, or cause us to incur substantial liabilities, fines, penalties or expenses.
−Removed: Cybersecurity breaches of any of the systems on which we rely may result from circumvention of security systems, denial-of-service attacks or other cyber-attacks, hacking, “phishing” attacks, computer viruses, ransomware, malware, employee or insider error, malfeasance, social engineering, physical breaches or other actions.
−Removed: According to media reports, the frequency, intensity, and sophistication of cyber-attacks, ransomware attacks, and other data security incidents generally has significantly increased around the globe in recent years.
−Removed: As with many other businesses, we have experienced, and are continually at risk of being subject to, attacks and incidents, including cybersecurity breaches such as computer viruses, unauthorized parties gaining access to our information technology systems and similar incidents.
−Removed: Cybersecurity breaches could cause us, and in some cases, materially, to experience reputational harm, loss of customers, loss and/or delay of revenue, loss of proprietary data, loss of licenses, regulatory actions and scrutiny, sanctions or other statutory penalties, litigation, liability for failure to safeguard customers’ information, financial losses or a drop in our stock price.
−Removed: We have invested in and continue to expend significant resources on information technology and data security tools, measures, processes, initiatives, policies and employee training designed to protect our information technology systems, as well as the personal, confidential or sensitive information stored on or transmitted through those systems, and to ensure an effective response to any cyber-attack or data security incident.
−Removed: These expenditures could have an adverse impact on our financial condition and results of operations, and divert management’s attention from pursuing our strategic objectives.
−Removed: In addition, the cost and operational consequences of implementing, maintaining and enhancing further system protective measures could increase significantly as cybersecurity threats increase, and there can be no assurance that the security measures we employ will effectively prevent cybersecurity breaches or otherwise prevent unauthorized persons from obtaining access to our systems and information.
−Removed: As these threats evolve, cybersecurity incidents could be more difficult to detect, defend against, and remediate.
−Removed: Cyber-attacks or data incidents could remain undetected for some period, which could potentially result in significant harm to our systems, as well as unauthorized access to the information stored on and transmitted by our systems.
−Removed: Further, despite our security efforts and training, our employees may purposefully or inadvertently cause security breaches that could harm our systems or result in the unauthorized disclosure of or access to information.
−Removed: Any measures we do take to prevent security breaches, whether caused by employees or third parties, could have the potential to harm relationships with our customers or restrict our ability to meet our customers' expectations.
−Removed: If a cyber-attack or other data incident results in the loss, theft, misuse, unauthorized disclosure, or unauthorized access of personal, confidential, or sensitive information belonging to our customers or employees, it could put us at a competitive disadvantage, result in the deterioration of our customers’ confidence in our services, cause our customers to reconsider their relationship with our company or impose more onerous contractual provisions, cause us to lose our regulatory licenses, and subject us to potential litigation, liability, fines and penalties.
−Removed: For example, we could be subject to regulatory or other actions pursuant to privacy laws.
−Removed: This could result in costly investigations and litigation, civil or criminal penalties, operational changes and negative publicity that could adversely affect our reputation, as well as our results of operations and financial condition.
−Removed: A cyber-attack or other data security incident could result in the significant and protracted disruption of our business such that:
−Removed: critical business systems become inoperable or require a significant amount of time or cost to restore;
−Removed: key personnel are unable to perform their duties or communicate with employees, customers or other third-parties;
−Removed: it results in the loss, theft, misuse, unauthorized disclosure, or unauthorized access of customer or company information;
−Removed: we are prevented from accessing information necessary to conduct our business;
−Removed: we are required to make unanticipated investments in equipment, technology or security measures;
−Removed: customers cannot access our websites and online systems;
−Removed: we become subject to other unanticipated liabilities, costs, or claims.
−Removed: Any of the foregoing could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations, and result in harm to our reputation.
−Removed: While we maintain insurance coverage that may, subject to policy terms and conditions, cover certain aspects of the losses and costs associated with cyber-attacks and data incidents, such insurance coverage may be insufficient to cover all losses and would not, in any event, remedy damage to our reputation.
−Removed: In addition, we may face difficulties in recovering any losses from our provider and any losses we recover may be lower than we initially expect.
−Removed: A breach of security may cause our customers to curtail or stop using our services.
−Removed: We rely largely on our own security systems, confidentiality procedures, and employee nondisclosure agreements to maintain the privacy and security of our and our customers’ proprietary information.
−Removed: Accidental or willful security breaches or other unauthorized access by third parties to our information systems, the existence of computer viruses in our data or software, and misappropriation of our proprietary information could expose us to a risk of information loss, litigation, and other possible liabilities which may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
−Removed: If security measures are breached because of third-party action, employee error, malfeasance, or otherwise, or if design flaws in our software are exposed and exploited, and, as a result, a third party obtains unauthorized access to any customer data, our relationships with our customers and our reputation will be damaged, our business may suffer, and we could incur significant liability.
−Removed: Because techniques used to obtain unauthorized access or to sabotage systems change frequently and generally are not recognized until launched against a target, we may be unable to anticipate these techniques or to implement adequate preventative measures.
−Removed: The market price and trading volume of our common stock may be volatile, which could result in rapid and substantial losses for our stockholders.
−Removed: The market price of our common stock may be highly volatile and could be subject to wide fluctuations.
−Removed: In addition, the trading volume in our common stock may fluctuate and cause significant price variations to occur.
−Removed: The stock market has in the past experienced price and volume fluctuations that have particularly affected companies in the healthcare and managed care markets resulting in changes in the market price of the stock of many companies, which may not have been directly related to the operating performance of those companies.
−Removed: There can be no assurance that the market price of our common stock will not fluctuate or decline significantly in the future.
−Removed: We cannot assure our stockholders that our stock repurchase program will enhance long-term stockholder value and stock repurchases, if any, could increase the volatility of the price of our common stock and will diminish our cash reserves.
−Removed: In 1996, our Board of Directors authorized a stock repurchase program and, since then, has periodically increased the number of shares authorized for repurchase under the repurchase program.
−Removed: The most recent increase occurred in February 2019 and brought the number of shares authorized for repurchase over the life of the program to 37,000,000 shares.
−Removed: There is no expiration date for the repurchase program.
−Removed: The timing and actual number of shares repurchased, if any, depend on a variety of factors including the timing of open trading windows, price, corporate and regulatory requirements, and other market conditions.
−Removed: The program may be suspended or discontinued at any time without prior notice.
−Removed: Repurchases pursuant to our stock repurchase program could affect our stock price and increase its volatility.
−Removed: The existence of a stock repurchase program could also cause our stock price to be higher than it would be in the absence of such a program and could potentially reduce the market liquidity for our stock.
−Removed: Additionally, repurchases under our stock repurchase program will diminish our cash reserves, which could strain our liquidity, could impact our ability to pursue possible future strategic opportunities and acquisitions and could result in lower overall returns on our cash balances.
−Removed: There can be no assurance that any further stock repurchases will enhance stockholder value because the market price of our common stock may decline below the levels at which we repurchased shares of stock.
−Removed: Although our stock repurchase program is intended to enhance long-term stockholder value, short-term stock price fluctuations could reduce the program’s effectiveness.
If the referrals for our patient management services decline, our business, financial condition and results of operations would be materially adversely affected.
17 unchanged sentences
Continued reductions in our customers’ exposure units (such as headcount, payroll, properties, the market values of their assets, plant and equipment, and other asset utilization levels, among other factors) will reduce the amount of claims administration services they need.
−Removed: In addition, with unprecedented levels of unemployment and business closures, the number of newly arising workers’ compensation and general liability claims, which directly impact our fee revenues in our risk management operation, have declined.
+Added: In addition, with unprecedented levels of unemployment and business closures, the number of newly arising workers’ compensation and general liability claims, which directly
+Added: impact our fee revenues in our risk management operation, have declined.
The decline in economic activity due to COVID-19 has caused some of our customers to become financially less stable, and if this trend continues and customers enter bankruptcy, liquidate their operations or consolidate, our revenues and the collectability of our receivables will be adversely affected.
10 unchanged sentences
Many of our current and potential competitors are significantly larger and have greater financial and marketing resources than we do, and there can be no assurance that we will continue to maintain our existing customers, maintain our past level of operating performance, or be successful with any new products or in any new geographical markets we may enter.
−Removed: Exposure to possible litigation and legal liability may adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
−Removed: We, through our utilization management services, make recommendations concerning the appropriateness of providers’ medical treatment plans for patients throughout the country, and as a result, could be exposed to claims for adverse medical consequences.
−Removed: We do not grant or deny claims for payment of benefits and we do not believe that we engage in the practice of medicine or the delivery of medical services.
−Removed: There can be no assurance, however, that we will not be subject to claims or litigation related to the authorization or denial of claims for payment of benefits or allegations that we engage in the practice of medicine or the delivery of medical services.
−Removed: In addition, there can be no assurance that we will not be subject to other litigation that may adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations, including but not limited to being joined in litigation brought against our customers in the managed care industry.
−Removed: We maintain professional liability insurance and such other coverages as we believe are reasonable in light of our experience to date.
−Removed: If such insurance is insufficient or unavailable in the future at reasonable cost to protect us from liability, our business, financial condition, or results of operations could be adversely affected.
−Removed: If lawsuits against us are successful, we may incur significant liabilities.
−Removed: We provide to insurers and other payors of healthcare costs managed care programs that utilize preferred provider organizations and computerized bill review programs.
−Removed: Healthcare providers have brought, against us and our customers, individual and class action lawsuits challenging such programs.
−Removed: If such lawsuits are successful, we may incur significant liabilities.
−Removed: We make recommendations about the appropriateness of providers’ proposed medical treatment plans for patients throughout the country.
−Removed: As a result, we could be subject to claims arising from any adverse medical consequences.
−Removed: Although plaintiffs have not, to date, subjected us to any claims or litigation relating to the granting or denial of claims for payment of benefits or allegations that we engage in the practice of medicine or the delivery of medical services, we cannot assure you that plaintiffs will not make such claims in future litigation.
−Removed: We also cannot assure you that our insurance will provide sufficient coverage or that insurance companies will make insurance available at a reasonable cost to protect us from significant future liability.
If the utilization by healthcare payors of early intervention services continues to increase, the revenue from our later-stage network and healthcare management services could be negatively affected.
2 unchanged sentences
As healthcare payors continue to increase their utilization of early intervention services, the revenue from our later stage network and healthcare management services will decrease.
−Removed: An interruption in our ability to access critical data may cause customers to cancel their service and/or may reduce our ability to effectively compete.
−Removed: Certain aspects of our business are dependent upon our ability to store, retrieve, process, and manage data and to maintain and upgrade our data processing capabilities.
−Removed: Interruption of data processing capabilities for any extended length of time, loss of stored data, programming errors or other system failures could cause customers to cancel their service and could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
−Removed: In addition, we expect that a considerable amount of our future growth will depend on our ability to process and manage claims data more efficiently and to provide more meaningful healthcare information to customers and payors of healthcare.
−Removed: There can be no assurance that our current data processing capabilities will be adequate for our future growth, that we will be able to efficiently upgrade our systems to meet future demands, or that we will be able to develop, license or otherwise acquire software to address these market demands as well or as timely as our competitors.
We face competition for staffing, which may increase our labor costs and reduce profitability.
7 unchanged sentences
There can be no assurance that we will succeed in limiting future cost increases, and continued upward pressure in these costs could materially reduce our profitability.
−Removed: The increased costs of professional and general liability insurance may have an adverse effect on our profitability.
−Removed: The cost of commercial professional and general liability insurance coverage has risen significantly in the past several years, and this trend may continue.
−Removed: In addition, if we were to suffer a material loss, our costs may increase over and above the general increases in the industry.
−Removed: If the costs associated with insuring our business continue to increase, it may adversely affect our business.
−Removed: We believe our current level of insurance coverage is adequate for a company of our size engaged in our business.
−Removed: Additionally, we may have difficulty getting carriers to pay under coverage in certain circumstances.
−Removed: Changes in government regulations could increase our costs of operations and/or reduce the demand for our services.
−Removed: Many states, including a number of those in which we transact business, have licensing and other regulatory requirements applicable to our business.
−Removed: Approximately half of the states have enacted laws that require licensing of businesses which provide medical review services such as ours.
−Removed: Some of these laws apply to medical review of care covered by workers’ compensation.
−Removed: These laws typically establish minimum standards for qualifications of personnel, confidentiality, internal quality control, and dispute resolution procedures.
−Removed: These regulatory programs may result in increased costs of operation for us, which may have an adverse impact upon our ability to compete with other available alternatives for healthcare cost control.
−Removed: In addition, new laws regulating the operation of managed care provider networks have been adopted by a number of states.
−Removed: These laws may apply to managed care provider networks we have contracts with or to provider networks which we may organize.
−Removed: To the extent we are governed by these regulations, we may be subject to additional licensing requirements, financial and operational oversight and procedural standards for beneficiaries and providers.
−Removed: Regulation in the healthcare and workers’ compensation fields is constantly evolving.
−Removed: We are unable to predict what additional government initiatives, if any, affecting our business may be promulgated in the future.
−Removed: Our business may be adversely affected by failure to comply with existing laws and regulations, failure to obtain necessary licenses and government approvals, or failure to adapt to new or modified regulatory requirements.
−Removed: Proposals for healthcare legislative reforms are regularly considered at the federal and state levels.
−Removed: To the extent that such proposals affect workers’ compensation, such proposals may adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
−Removed: In addition, changes in workers’ compensation, automobile insurance, and group healthcare laws or regulations may reduce demand for our services, require us to develop new or modified services to meet the demands of the marketplace, or reduce the fees that we may charge for our services.
−Removed: Increasing regulatory focus on privacy issues and expanding laws could impact our business models and expose us to increased liability.
−Removed: privacy and data security laws apply to our various businesses.
−Removed: Governments, privacy advocates and class action attorneys are increasingly scrutinizing how companies collect, process, use, store, share and transmit personal data.
−Removed: Globally, new laws, such as the General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) in Europe, the California Consumer Privacy Act ("CCPA") in California, and industry self-regulatory codes have been enacted and more are being considered that may affect our ability to respond to customer requests under the laws, and to implement our business models effectively.
−Removed: These requirements, among others, may force us to bear the burden of more onerous obligations in our contracts.
−Removed: Any perception of our practices, products or services as a violation of individual privacy rights may subject us to public criticism, class action lawsuits, reputational harm, or investigations or claims by regulators, industry groups or other third parties, all of which could disrupt our business and expose us to increased liability.
−Removed: Additionally, we store information on behalf of our customers and if our customers fail to comply with contractual obligations or applicable laws, it could result in litigation or reputational harm to us.
The introduction of software products incorporating new technologies and the emergence of new industry standards could render our existing software products less competitive, obsolete, or unmarketable.
22 unchanged sentences
We cannot currently estimate the timing and amount of any such charges.
+Added: We are sensitive to regional weather conditions and natural disasters that may adversely affect our operations.
+Added: Our operations are directly affected in the short term by the weather conditions and natural disasters in certain regions of operation.
+Added: Therefore our business is sensitive to the weather conditions and natural disasters of these regions.
+Added: Unusually inclement weather, including significant rain, hurricanes, tropical storms, snow, sleet, freezing rain, or ice, and natural disasters, including fires, can temporarily affect our operations if customers are forced to close operational centers.
+Added: Accordingly, our operating results may vary from quarter to quarter, depending on the impact of these weather conditions and natural disasters.
+Added: Risks Related to Cybersecurity and Our Information Systems
+Added: A cybersecurity attack or other disruption to our information technology systems could result in the loss, theft, misuse, unauthorized disclosure, or unauthorized access of customer or sensitive company information or could disrupt our operations, which could damage our relationships with customers or employees, expose us to litigation or regulatory proceedings, or harm our reputation, any of which could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations.
+Added: We rely on information technology to support our business activities.
+Added: Our business involves the storage and transmission of a significant amount of personal, confidential, or sensitive information, including the personal information of our customers and employees, and our company’s financial, operational and strategic information.
+Added: As with many businesses, we are subject to numerous data privacy and security risks, which may prevent us from maintaining the privacy of this information, result in the disruption of our business and online systems, and require us to expend significant resources attempting to secure and protect such information and respond to incidents, any of which could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations.
+Added: The loss, theft, misuse, unauthorized disclosure, or unauthorized access of such information could lead to significant reputational or competitive harm, result in litigation or regulatory proceedings, or cause us to incur substantial liabilities, fines, penalties or expenses.
+Added: Cybersecurity breaches of any of the systems on which we rely may result from circumvention of security systems, denial-of-service attacks or other cyber-attacks, hacking, “phishing” attacks, computer viruses, ransomware, malware, employee or insider error, malfeasance, social engineering, physical breaches or other actions.
+Added: According to media reports, the frequency, intensity, and
+Added: sophistication of cyber-attacks, ransomware attacks, and other data security incidents generally has significantly increased around the globe in recent years.
+Added: As with many other businesses, we have experienced, and are continually at risk of being subject to, attacks and incidents, including cybersecurity breaches such as computer viruses, unauthorized parties gaining access to our information technology systems and similar incidents.
+Added: Cybersecurity breaches could cause us, and in some cases, materially, to experience reputational harm, loss of customers, loss and/or delay of revenue, loss of proprietary data, loss of licenses, regulatory actions and scrutiny, sanctions or other statutory penalties, litigation, liability for failure to safeguard customers’ information, financial losses or a drop in our stock price.
+Added: We have invested in and continue to expend significant resources on information technology and data security tools, measures, processes, initiatives, policies and employee training designed to protect our information technology systems, as well as the personal, confidential or sensitive information stored on or transmitted through those systems, and to ensure an effective response to any cyber-attack or data security incident.
+Added: These expenditures could have an adverse impact on our financial condition and results of operations, and divert management’s attention from pursuing our strategic objectives.
+Added: In addition, the cost and operational consequences of implementing, maintaining and enhancing further system protective measures could increase significantly as cybersecurity threats increase, and there can be no assurance that the security measures we employ will effectively prevent cybersecurity breaches or otherwise prevent unauthorized persons from obtaining access to our systems and information .
+Added: As these threats evolve, cybersecurity incidents could be more difficult to detect, defend against, and remediate.
+Added: Cyber-attacks or data incidents could remain undetected for some period, which could potentially result in significant harm to our systems, as well as unauthorized access to the information stored on and transmitted by our systems.
+Added: Further, despite our security efforts and training, our employees may purposefully or inadvertently cause security breaches that could harm our systems or result in the unauthorized disclosure of or access to information.
+Added: Any measures we do take to prevent security breaches, whether caused by employees or third parties, could have the potential to harm relationships with our customers or restrict our ability to meet our customers' expectations.
+Added: If a cyber-attack or other data incident results in the loss, theft, misuse, unauthorized disclosure, or unauthorized access of personal, confidential, or sensitive information belonging to our customers or employees, it could put us at a competitive disadvantage, result in the deterioration of our customers’ confidence in our services, cause our customers to reconsider their relationship with our company or impose more onerous contractual provisions, cause us to lose our regulatory licenses, and subject us to potential litigation, liability, fines and penalties.
+Added: For example, we could be subject to regulatory or other actions pursuant to privacy laws.
+Added: This could result in costly investigations and litigation, civil or criminal penalties, operational changes and negative publicity that could adversely affect our reputation, as well as our results of operations and financial condition.
+Added: A cyber-attack or other data security incident could result in the significant and protracted disruption of our business such that:
+Added: critical business systems become inoperable or require a significant amount of time or cost to restore;
+Added: key personnel are unable to perform their duties or communicate with employees, customers or other third-parties;
+Added: it results in the loss, theft, misuse, unauthorized disclosure, or unauthorized access of customer or company information;
+Added: we are prevented from accessing information necessary to conduct our business;
+Added: we are required to make unanticipated investments in equipment, technology or security measures;
+Added: customers cannot access our websites and online systems;
+Added: we become subject to other unanticipated liabilities, costs, or claims.
+Added: Any of the foregoing could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations, and result in harm to our reputation.
+Added: While we maintain insurance coverage that may, subject to policy terms and conditions, cover certain aspects of the losses and costs associated with cyber-attacks and data incidents, such insurance coverage may be insufficient to cover all losses and would not, in any event, remedy damage to our reputation.
+Added: In addition, we may face difficulties in recovering any losses from our provider and any losses we recover may be lower than we initially expect.
+Added: A breach of security may cause our customers to curtail or stop using our services.
+Added: We rely largely on our own security systems, confidentiality procedures, and employee nondisclosure agreements to maintain the privacy and security of our and our customers’ proprietary information.
+Added: Accidental or willful security breaches or other unauthorized access by third parties to our information systems, the existence of computer viruses in our data or software, and misappropriation of our proprietary information could expose us to a risk of information loss, litigation, and other possible liabilities which may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
+Added: If security measures are breached because of third-party action, employee error, malfeasance, or otherwise, or if design flaws in our software are exposed and exploited, and, as a result, a third party obtains unauthorized access to any customer data, our relationships with our customers and our reputation will be damaged, our business may suffer, and we could incur significant liability.
+Added: Because techniques used to obtain unauthorized access or to sabotage systems change frequently and generally are not recognized until launched against a target, we may be unable to anticipate these techniques or to implement adequate preventative measures.
+Added: An interruption in our ability to access critical data may cause customers to cancel their service and/or may reduce our ability to effectively compete.
+Added: Certain aspects of our business are dependent upon our ability to store, retrieve, process, and manage data and to maintain and upgrade our data processing capabilities.
+Added: Interruption of data processing capabilities for any extended length of time, loss of stored data, programming errors or other system failures could cause customers to cancel their service and could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
+Added: In addition, we expect that a considerable amount of our future growth will depend on our ability to process and manage claims data more efficiently and to provide more meaningful healthcare information to customers and payors of healthcare.
+Added: There can be no assurance that our current data processing capabilities will be adequate for our future growth, that we will be able to efficiently upgrade our systems to meet future demands, or that we will be able to develop, license or otherwise acquire software to address these market demands as well or as timely as our competitors.
If we are unable to leverage our information systems to enhance our outcome-driven service model, our results may be adversely affected.
9 unchanged sentences
Any significant interruptions in our services or increases in response time could result in a loss of potential or existing users, and, if sustained or repeated, could reduce the attractiveness of our services.
−Removed: We are sensitive to regional weather conditions and natural disasters that may adversely affect our operations.
−Removed: Our operations are directly affected in the short term by the weather conditions and natural disasters in certain regions of operation.
−Removed: Therefore our business is sensitive to the weather conditions and natural disasters of these regions.
−Removed: Unusually inclement weather, including significant rain, hurricanes, tropical storms, snow, sleet, freezing rain, or ice, and natural disasters, including fires, can temporarily affect our operations if customers are forced to close operational centers.
−Removed: Accordingly, our operating results may vary from quarter to quarter, depending on the impact of these weather conditions and natural disasters.
+Added: Risks Related to Potential Litigation
+Added: Exposure to possible litigation and legal liability may adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
+Added: We, through our utilization management services, make recommendations concerning the appropriateness of providers’ medical treatment plans for patients throughout the country, and as a result, could be exposed to claims for adverse medical consequences.
+Added: We do not grant or deny claims for payment of benefits and we do not believe that we engage in the practice of medicine or the delivery of medical services.
+Added: There can be no assurance, however, that we will not be subject to claims or litigation related to the authorization or denial of claims for payment of benefits or allegations that we engage in the practice of medicine or the delivery of medical services.
+Added: In addition, there can be no assurance that we will not be subject to other litigation that may adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations, including but not limited to being joined in litigation brought against our customers in the managed care industry.
+Added: We maintain professional liability insurance and such other coverages as we believe are reasonable in light of our experience to date.
+Added: If such insurance is insufficient or unavailable in the future at reasonable cost to protect us from liability, our business, financial condition, or results of operations could be adversely affected.
+Added: If lawsuits against us are successful, we may incur significant liabilities.
+Added: We provide to insurers and other payors of healthcare costs managed care programs that utilize preferred provider organizations and computerized bill review programs.
+Added: Healthcare providers have brought, against us and our customers, individual and class action lawsuits challenging such programs.
+Added: If such lawsuits are successful, we may incur significant liabilities.
+Added: We make recommendations about the appropriateness of providers’ proposed medical treatment plans for patients throughout the country.
+Added: As a result, we could be subject to claims arising from any adverse medical consequences.
+Added: Although plaintiffs have not, to date, subjected us to any claims or litigation relating to the granting or denial of claims for payment of benefits or allegations that we engage in the practice of medicine or the delivery of medical services, we cannot assure you that plaintiffs will not make such
+Added: claims in future litigation.
+Added: We also cannot assure you that our insurance will provide sufficient coverage or that insurance companies will make insurance available at a reasonable cost to protect us from significant future liability .
+Added: The increased costs of professional and general liability insurance may have an adverse effect on our profitability.
+Added: The cost of commercial professional and general liability insurance coverage has risen significantly in the past several years, and this trend may continue.
+Added: In addition, if we were to suffer a material loss, our costs may increase over and above the general increases in the industry.
+Added: If the costs associated with insuring our business continue to increase, it may adversely affect our business.
+Added: We believe our current level of insurance coverage is adequate for a company of our size engaged in our business.
+Added: Additionally, we may have difficulty getting carriers to pay under coverage in certain circumstances.
+Added: Risks Related to Our Regulatory Environment
+Added: Changes in government regulations could increase our costs of operations and/or reduce the demand for our services.
+Added: Many states, including a number of those in which we transact business, have licensing and other regulatory requirements applicable to our business.
+Added: Approximately half of the states have enacted laws that require licensing of businesses which provide medical review services such as ours.
+Added: Some of these laws apply to medical review of care covered by workers’ compensation.
+Added: These laws typically establish minimum standards for qualifications of personnel, confidentiality, internal quality control, and dispute resolution procedures.
+Added: These regulatory programs may result in increased costs of operation for us, which may have an adverse impact upon our ability to compete with other available alternatives for healthcare cost control.
+Added: In addition, new laws regulating the operation of managed care provider networks have been adopted by a number of states.
+Added: These laws may apply to managed care provider networks we have contracts with or to provider networks which we may organize.
+Added: To the extent we are governed by these regulations, we may be subject to additional licensing requirements, financial and operational oversight and procedural standards for beneficiaries and providers.
+Added: Regulation in the healthcare and workers’ compensation fields is constantly evolving.
+Added: We are unable to predict what additional government initiatives, if any, affecting our business may be promulgated in the future.
+Added: Our business may be adversely affected by failure to comply with existing laws and regulations, failure to obtain necessary licenses and government approvals, or failure to adapt to new or modified regulatory requirements.
+Added: Proposals for healthcare legislative reforms are regularly considered at the federal and state levels.
+Added: To the extent that such proposals affect workers’ compensation, such proposals may adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
+Added: In addition, changes in workers’ compensation, automobile insurance, and group healthcare laws or regulations may reduce demand for our services, require us to develop new or modified services to meet the demands of the marketplace, or reduce the fees that we may charge for our services.
+Added: Increasing regulatory focus on privacy issues and expanding laws could impact our business models and expose us to increased liability.
+Added: privacy and data security laws apply to our various businesses.
+Added: Governments, privacy advocates and class action attorneys are increasingly scrutinizing how companies collect, process, use, store, share and transmit personal data.
+Added: Globally, new laws, such as the General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) in Europe, the California Consumer Privacy Act ("CCPA") in California, and industry self-regulatory codes have been enacted and more are being considered that may affect our ability to respond to customer requests under the laws, and to implement our business models effectively.
+Added: These requirements, among others, may force us to bear the burden of more onerous obligations in our contracts.
+Added: Any perception of our practices, products or services as a violation of individual privacy rights may subject us to public criticism, class action lawsuits, reputational harm, or investigations or claims by regulators, industry groups or other third parties, all of which could disrupt our business and expose us to increased liability.
+Added: Additionally, we store information on behalf of our customers and if our customers fail to comply with contractual obligations or applicable laws, it could result in litigation or reputational harm to us.
+Added: Risks Related to Ownership of Our Common Stock
+Added: The market price and trading volume of our common stock may be volatile, which could result in rapid and substantial losses for our stockholders.
+Added: The market price of our common stock may be highly volatile and could be subject to wide fluctuations.
+Added: In addition, the trading volume in our common stock may fluctuate and cause significant price variations to occur.
+Added: The stock market has in the past experienced price and volume fluctuations that have particularly affected companies in the healthcare and managed care markets resulting in changes in the market price of the stock of many companies, which may not have been directly related to the operating performance of those companies.
+Added: There can be no assurance that the market price of our common stock will not fluctuate or decline significantly in the future.
+Added: We cannot assure our stockholders that our stock repurchase program will enhance long-term stockholder value and stock repurchases, if any, could increase the volatility of the price of our common stock and will diminish our cash reserves.
+Added: In 1996, our Board of Directors authorized a stock repurchase program and, since then, has periodically increased the number of shares authorized for repurchase under the repurchase program.
+Added: The most recent increase occurred in February 2019 and brought the number of shares authorized for repurchase over the life of the program to 37,000,000 shares.
+Added: There is no expiration date for the repurchase program.
+Added: The timing and actual number of shares repurchased, if any, depend on a variety of factors including the timing of open trading windows, price, corporate and regulatory requirements, and other market conditions.
+Added: The program may be suspended or discontinued at any time without prior notice.
+Added: Repurchases pursuant to our stock repurchase program could affect our stock price and increase its volatility.
+Added: The existence of a stock repurchase program could also cause our stock price to be higher than it would be in the absence of such a program and could potentially reduce the market liquidity for our stock.
+Added: Additionally, repurchases under our stock repurchase program will diminish our cash reserves, which could strain our liquidity, could impact our ability to pursue possible future strategic opportunities and acquisitions and could result in lower overall returns on our cash balances.
+Added: There can be no assurance that any further stock repurchases will enhance stockholder value because the market price of our common stock may decline below the levels at which we repurchased shares of stock.
+Added: Although our stock repurchase program is intended to enhance long-term stockholder value, short-term stock price fluctuations could reduce the program’s effectiveness.
Compared sentence by sentence after normalising whitespace, quotation marks, case and digits, so re-formatting and restated figures do not read as changed language. Wording changes appear as one removal and one addition. The current filing and the prior one are authoritative.