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Strategies & Market Trends : Cents and Sensibility - Kimberly and Friends' Consortium -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Due Diligence who wrote (8469)	6/16/1999 1:13:00 PM
From: SIW	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 108040

VALH more news out: biz.yahoo.com

To: Due Diligence who wrote (8469)	6/16/1999 2:47:00 PM
From: Ga Bard	Respond to of 108040

And here is more news on your WELL too. WellCare Sells New York Commercial HMO business B: WellCare Sells New York Commercial HMO business KINGSTON, N.Y., Jun 16, 1999, (A. M. Best via COMTEX) -- WellCare Management Group Inc. said it has sold its commercial health maintenance organization business in New York, and intends to sell a majority of stock to a new owner. WellCare, the parent company of WellCare of New York and WellCare of Connecticut, said WellCare of New York has sold its commercial enrollment to Group Health Inc. of New York for about $5 million. The move affects about 25,000 of WellCare's 70,000 subscribers in New York and Connecticut. Also, WellCare said it has closed on an agreement to sell 55% of its stock to Kiran C. Patel, M.D., who will invest $5 million in the company. As part of the sale to Patel, both WellCare in New York and Connecticut have signed management agreements with Comprehensive Health Management, an affiliate of Patel, to manage the remaining HMO operations. Patel is also associated with an unrelated Florida company, Wellcare HMO Inc. The change of management is pending a public hearing and approval from the Connecticut Insurance Department, which placed WellCare Connecticut into supervision May 26, said department spokeswoman Susan Cogswell. New York regulators approved the sale June 11, the company said. Patel has agreed not to change the control of WellCare Connecticut until receiving approval from Connecticut officials. Cogswell said the company is in supervision because it fails to meet the minimum net worth requirements of $1 million. WellCare reported a net loss of $4.8 million in the fourth quarter of 1997 and a consolidated net loss of $22.1 million in 1997. The company hasn't made a profit since 1995. WellCare said a pool of $10 million from both transactions will be used to pay claims owed to 75 hospitals and doctors, with up to $2.5 million being used to meet statutory reserves. In 1995, the company began to stumble financially when money it was counting on fell through. The company restated its earnings to show a $5.1 million note expected from the sale of a subsidiary wouldn't be forthcoming because of the buyer's financial condition. Some of the funds raised by the sale of the New York unit's commercial membership will be used to pay creditors, shore up the company's statutory net worth, and pay a $2.5 million settlement in a shareholders' litigation, WellCare said. WellCare restated its fourth-quarter and 1998 earnings to show a higher-than-expected fourth-quarter net loss of between $23 million and $26 million and a consolidated 1998 net loss of between $30 million and $33 million. WellCare Management Group's stock is traded over-the-counter under the symbol "WELL." The stock was trading at $0.140625 a share Wednesday morning--down 19.15% from the previous day's close.