Insurance Giants May Merge Combined King, Pierce County Company Would Have More Than 1 Million Subscribers

The largest insurance companies in King and Pierce counties are exploring a possible merger early next year.

Executives for Pierce County Medical Bureau and King County Medical Blue Shield on Thursday confirmed their boards were discussing a merger.

The goal would be to create a unified statewide group while maintaining a strong local presence, said John Holtermann, chief operating officer for Pierce County Medical.

“It just makes an awful lot of sense for us to create seamless products and seamless boundaries,” he told The News Tribune of Tacoma.

Dale Francis, president and chief executive officer of King County Medical, said his company plans to move its division that administers government contracts to Tacoma. Employees will start moving in at year’s end, he said.

“We’re very committed to the areas we do business in and will have a presence in each one,” said Francis. “We think it’s best for our customers to be served by local employees.”

The companies have yet to select a new name that will reflect their affiliation with The Benchmark Group, a consortium of health plans.

The Benchmark Group was formed a year ago by King County Medical, Pierce County Medical, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Oregon and Medical Service Bureau of Idaho-Blue Shield of Idaho. Since then, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Utah and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Montana have said they intend to join.

The six providers serve more than 3 million people.

Pierce County Medical has 193,200 subscribers and 340 employees. Revenues in 1995 were $240 million. It is the county’s top health plan.

King County Medical, the largest health plan in the state, has 880,000 subscribers and 1,800 employees across the state. Last year, net premiums were $1.03 billion.