Insurance deal draws support

0 Comments | Philadelphia Inquirer, The, July, 2008 | by Jane M. Von Bergen Inquirer Staff Writer

Two insurance brokers, and a union leader and an office-furniture dealer came to the same conclusion but from different points of view. In today's business climate, it's either grow or die. That's why, at a public hearing yesterday, they urged Pennsylvania Insurance Commissioner Joel Ario to approve a consolidation between Independence Blue Cross and Highmark Inc.

The merger would create the largest health insurer in the state and one of the largest in the nation. "It would be terribly unfair to make these insurance companies stand still in the marketplace when every one else is moving," said Wendell Young 4th, president of the 23,000-member United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1776. Statewide public hearings ended in Philadelphia yesterday with most of the 17 speakers...