Business

WellPoint designated to get members transferred from departing PPO

NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted Jan. 5, 2009

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As many as 10,500 members of Summerlin Life and Health Insurance Co. in Nevada could be added to WellPoint's rolls as Summerlin leaves the PPO market in that state.

The insurer has been doing business there since 1992, but according to a news release, "recent changes in the health insurance market in Nevada have made it increasingly difficult to be competitive."

Summerlin will continue to offer PPO products in Hawaii, but it has agreed to refer its customers to WellPoint's Nevada subsidiary Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield to "facilitate the smooth transition of current Summerlin employer groups to Anthem."

Summerlin is owned by The i/mx companies, a privately held health insurance and information technology company based in Tempe, Ariz.

WellPoint reached a similar agreement with M-Plan, an Indiana HMO, to absorb its membership in 2007 when M-Plan left the HMO market in that state.

Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2009/01/05/bibf0105.htm.

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