Business
Calif. to examine insurance merger
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted June 14, 2004
Legislators in the California General Assembly have formed a special committee to hold a hearing on the proposed merger between Thousand Oaks, Calif.-based WellPoint Health Networks and Indianapolis-based Anthem Inc.
The committee is expected to hold the hearing in June.
The committee was appointed by Democratic leaders in the state after a California newspaper reported that the California Dept. of Managed Health Care had decided it was not necessary to hold a hearing on the merger.
G. Lewis Chartrand, chief deputy director of the department, said it was still possible that his agency would hold its own hearing but that the matter was not yet decided.
The Dept. of Managed Health Care normally holds a public hearing when insurers in the state merge to determine if the merger would affect availability of health care, physician and hospital networks, or insurer capitalization, Chartrand said.
The $15.5 billion Anthem-WellPoint merger is expected to be completed this summer, said Ken Ferber, WellPoint spokesman. The only states that still must approve the deal are California and Georgia, he said.
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission and U.S. Dept. of Justice have approved the merger. Shareholders from each company will meet at the end of June to vote on the proposed deal, Ferber said.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2004/06/14/bibf0614.htm.
