Thursday, June 17, 2010, 4:12pm EDT

HM Insurance buys Mutual of Omaha line

Pittsburgh Business Times – by Kris B. Mamula

HM Life Insurance Co. has reached an agreement to acquire Mutual of Omaha’s employer stop loss line, making parent HM Insurance Group among the biggest employer stop loss carriers in the country, the Downtown Pittsburgh company announced on Thursday.

The transaction, which is subject to regulatory approvals, is effective July 1.

“The block complements our current stop loss distribution channel, allows us to achieve greater economies of scale and supports our strategic direction as an expert in health risk solutions,” Michael Sullivan, president and COO of HM Insurance Group, a Highmark company, said in a prepared statement.

The Mutual of Omaha stop loss block of business, with approximately $100 million in annual premiums, will grow HM’s current block of $420 million in premiums by nearly 25 percent, Sullivan noted in the statement. Stop loss insurance is designed to protect self-funded health insurance plans from catastrophic losses.

Read more: HM Insurance buys Mutual of Omaha line – Pittsburgh Business Times