Humana Inc. (HUM) is a leading American health insurance company based in Louisville, Kentucky. Humana Inc. was founded in 1961 by David A. Jones Sr. and Wendell Cherry as a nursing home company. It became the largest nursing home company in the United States with the name Extendicare Inc. Later in 1972, Jones and Cherry started buying hospitals by selling the nursing home chain. In 1974, the partners changed the corporate name to Humana Inc.