PacifiCare

> Coventry Health reported second-quarter profit up 54 percent thanks to surging management services revenue. Story

> Top executives at PacifiCare will get bonuses of $230 million if the health system's merger with UnitedHealth Group goes through, according to details made public on Monday. Expect more controversy about this.  …

This week's big news is the continuing consolidation in the health plan market. Pacificare, a big regional California-based HMO, was swallowed by UnitedHealth. Meanwhile, the result of the Wellpoint-Anthem merger has essentially been the coalition of all the for-profit Blues plans. Thus far almost all of these mergers have been plans in different regions merging with each other. But …

> Pfizer's dissident executive Peter Rost will give evidence against pharma companies accused of conspiring to control prices in the US by keeping Canadian drugs out of the market. Story

> The California insurance commissioner may look into the United-Pacificare deal. …

UnitedHealth Group posted glowing second-quarter results yesterday, delivering a 38 percent increase in profit. Analysts are largely happy with company's recently announced plans to exploit the consumer-driven health trend, praising its decision to pursue an $8 billion merger with PacifiCare. Expansion into the key California market is seen as the company's most logical move to confront WellPoint, currently the largest managed care provider in the country with a membership of 28.3 …

WellPoint announced this morning that it will pay $135 million to settle class-action lawsuits brought by physicians who accuse the company of unfair reimbursement practices. The deal would affect more than 700,000 physicians in the US participating in two major lawsuits against the insurer and other managed care companies. The settlement, which still must be approved by the courts, appears to resolve a major question mark for the nation's largest insurer at a time when it faces increased …