Regulators OK Sierra Health Services deal
A proposed buyout of Las Vegas-based Sierra Health Services won approval late Thursday from insurance regulators in California and Arizona, where the managed-care insurer has enrollees in its Medicare Part D prescription-drug program.
Sierra Health is the target of a $2.6 billion buyout that Minnesota-based UnitedHealth Group proposed in March. UnitedHealth is one of the largest insurance companies in the country, with more than 70 million customers nationwide.
UnitedHealth's purchase had already earned a conditional OK from the Nevada Division of Insurance on Aug. 27.
The division is asking the companies to guarantee they won't pass the costs of buyout on to customers and to help reduce the number of uninsured Nevadans, among other measures.
Executives of UnitedHealth and Sierra Health said they're working with the federal Department of Justice to receive final regulatory approval. They said they expect the deal to close by the end of 2007.
Several groups, including the American Medical Association and the Service Employees International Union, have asked the Department of Justice to block the deal because of its antitrust implications. Nevada Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto is also studying the buyout to determine whether it complies with the law and serves state residents' interests.
Shares in Sierra Health rose 7 cents, or 0.17 percent, Friday to close at $42.02 on the New York Stock Exchange. Shares in UnitedHealth fell 41 cents, or 0.83 percent, to close at $49.19, also on the New York Stock Exchange.
