(AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee, File)

Aetna’s fourth-quarter net income sank 49 percent as higher medical costs squeezed profitability for the insurer’s commercial health coverage, and several one-time expenses chipped away at the bottom line.

The Hartford, Conn., company said Thursday the amount it paid in medical claims grew more than 9 percent in the quarter to $6.12 billion as a rise in flu-related expenses countered a drop in use when Superstorm Sandy swept up the East Coast last fall.

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