On the other hand, the pricing environment is better than it's been for the past five years and health insurance is a necessity. Humana has taken a number of positive steps over the last six months. We're now pricing our products to reflect underlying medical costs. We've strengthened our balance sheet, selling non-core assets and using the proceeds to pay down debt and make infrastructure investments. And we've initiated a huge strategic and tactical push to take advantage of the Internet's ability to produce cost savings for the company and efficiency gains for our members and affiliated physicians.
Unemployment is at historically low levels.
It's always tough to recruit and retain top-notch employees. The current labor market makes that even more difficult. With a new 'cultural transformation' initiative that emphasizes the value we place in our employees, we expect to do a better job of finding and keeping the labor force's best and brightest. The unintended consequences of health insurance legislation passed in 1994 are higher health insurance premiums for employers and lower wages for employees. Another result is that numerous insurance companies have left the state and the possibility of their return is still in question.