Regulators Review Anthem-Kansas Blue Deal

NU Online News Service, Sept. 6, 9:34 a.m. – Kansas Insurance Commissioner Kathleen Sebelius says she will approve efforts by a unit of Anthem Companies Inc., Indianapolis, to acquire Kansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield, Topeka, Kan., if she finds the affiliation would be in the best interests of the policyholders.

“Our primary focus with the possible affiliation between Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas and Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield is protecting Kansas policyholders,” Sebelius says in a statement posted recently on the Kansas Insurance Department Web site.

Kansas Blue is now a nonprofit, policyholder-owned mutual insurer, Sebelius says.

Anthem applied for permission to acquire Kansas Blue in May, along with a draft plan for converting Kansas Blue to a for-profit, shareholder-owned company.

Once Kansas Blue converted to a stock charter, through a process called “demutualization,” Anthem would acquire Kansas Blue’s stock.