January 21st, 2009

Reports the Philadelphia Inquirer:

“Amid signs that Pennsylvania’s insurance commissioner is laying out a course for Independence Blue Cross and Highmark Inc. to follow as they pursue their proposed and controversial merger, members of the boards of the two insurers are meeting today.

Even though by law an official decision cannot be rendered until Tuesday, the Insurance Department has let the insurers know privately that it will not approve the merger unless the new company agrees to make an important change in how it markets health insurance in Pennsylvania, among other conditions.

The marketing change has to do with how the new company, which would become the largest health insurer in the state and one of the largest in the nation, would use the popular “Blue” trademark, according to one knowledgeable source who participated in a conversation on the merger with one of the top officials in the Insurance Department.”

Read many more details of this development at the Inquirer.