UPDATE 1-Humana CEO sees more HMO consolidation

* CEO says HMO consolidation is "inevitable"

* CEO says "better to be bigger" at this point

* CEO says could lose market share to UnitedHealth

DETROIT, June 15 (Reuters) - Humana Inc's (HUM.N: Quote, Profile, Research) top
executive said on Monday he believes additional consolidation
among health insurers is "inevitable" because of the economies
of scale such deals provide.

In an interview with Reuters on the sidelines of the
National Summit, Michael McCallister said HMOs "need to get
larger" because of the massive investments they are required to
make just to keep up with new technologies.

He also acknowledged that his company might well lose
market share as a result of UnitedHealth Group's (UNH.N: Quote, Profile, Research)
bidding strategy for Medicare Advantage, a strategy some
analysts have described as aggressive.

"It could happen," McCallister said.
(Additional reporting by Lewis Krauskopf, editing by Matthew
Lewis)