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Managed Care Companies
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AMERIGROUP TAPS DUNLAP, FOX
Amerigroup Corp. (Virginia Beach, VA) has named Frederick Dunlap to the newly created position of senior vice president of health plan operations, overseeing health plans in Texas, Florida and Illinois—three of the company’s seven state health plan operations.
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HAP, CIGNA FORM NATIONAL MARKETING ALLIANCE
Health Alliance Plan (Detroit) and Cigna Corp. (Philadelphia) will jointly market national, open-access health plans to mid-sized and large groups, giving employers that sign up access to HAP’s southeast Michigan provider network and Cigna’s national network. Coverage will be effective beginning the fourth quarter of 2005.
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BCBS-MA 1Q05 NET SOARS 73%; COMPANY REORGANIZES
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts (Boston) had first-quarter 2005 net income of $56.1 million, up 73% from the same period a year earlier, on premiums and investment income of $1.37 billion, up 13%.
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BCBS-NC 1Q05 NET FALLS 13%
Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina (Chapel Hill, NC) reported first-quarter 2005 net income of $45.9 million, down 13% compared to the same period a year earlier, which the company blamed on increased medical costs, decreased investment income, and investment in technology and staff to serve a growing customer base.
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AETNA, UNITED, WELLPOINT TO AFFIRM EARNINGS OUTLOOK
Aetna Inc. (Hartford, CT) will reaffirm its previously disclosed 2005 earnings projections of $4.52 to $4.57 per share ($1.374 billion to $1.389 billion based on 304 million diluted shares), the company said in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.
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METROPOLITAN TO BEGIN MEDICARE HMO PUSH IN JULY
Metropolitan Health Networks (West Palm Beach, FL), which provides health benefits to nearly 30,000 Medicare Advantage members through risk contracts with Humana, will begin marketing its own Medicare HMO in six counties in Florida in July: Martin, St. Lucie, Okeechobee, Sarasota, Charlotte and Lee counties.
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BCBS PLANS WIN ANTITRUST VERDICT AGAINST MYLAN
A group of four health plans led by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota (St. Paul, MN) won a $12 million jury verdict in a four-year-old antitrust lawsuit against generic drug maker Mylan Laboratories Inc. (Canonsburg, OH).
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CAREFIRST TO BUY MID-ATLANTIC PLAN
CareFirst (Bethesda, MD) has agreed to acquire provider-owned Mid-Atlantic Health Plan, with 31,000 members, from Christiana Care Health System. About 15,000 of MAHP’s members are Christiana Care employees.
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EXCELLUS SETTLES DOC SUITS FOR $7 MM
Excellus Blue Cross Blue Shield (Rochester, NY) has agreed to pay a total of $7 million to settle class action litigation brought by physicians in upstate New York over fee schedules, timetables for claims payments and inadequate guidelines for payment denials.
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WPS TO ACQUIRE PREVEA HEALTH PLAN
WPS Health Insurance (Madison, WI) has acquired the assets of Prevea Health Plan (Green Bay, WI), a nine-year-old provider-owned HMO with about 33,000 lives.
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