WellPoint to Acquire CareMore Health Group

WellPoint, Inc. WLP, the nation's largest health benefits provider in terms of medical membership, announced today that it has entered into an agreement to acquire CareMore, a senior focused health care delivery program that includes Medicare Advantage plans and clinics designed to deliver proactive, integrated, individualized health care in select California, Arizona and Nevada markets. The acquisition exemplifies WellPoint's strategic plans to capitalize on new opportunities for growth in the changing marketplace and to create the best health care value in our industry. "The Medicare market is particularly significant for WellPoint's growth strategy," said Angela F. Braly, chair, president and chief executive officer of WellPoint. "We anticipate that more than one million Baby Boomers will age into Medicare every year between now and 2030 across our 14 Blue states." In order to deliver the best health care value to this population, WellPoint is committed to providing access-based health care products and services that are simple to use and that customers can trust. "In the last five years we have worked diligently to create and demonstrate the CareMore model can produce superior clinical and financial results in diverse markets," said Alan Hoops, chairman and chief executive officer of CareMore. "We are excited about the opportunities to combine our capabilities with the market presence nationwide of WellPoint and expand the CareMore model within WellPoint's markets."