Health insurer WellPoint Inc. has agreed to pay $90 million to settle a class-action lawsuit against its Anthem unit over claims that the company failed to fairly compensate former members when Anthem was converted in 2001 from a mutual company into a stock company. If approved by a U.S. federal judge in Indianapolis, the settlement would resolve all claims asserted by the class. The case had been scheduled for trial on Monday in federal court in Indianapolis. The lawsuit was filed in 2005.

The Plaintiffs will send settlement notices to class members, with checks to be mailed to class members starting as soon as the settlement becomes final and fully in effect. The class represented in the suit consisted of more than 700,000 residents of Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky and Connecticut who were the owners of Anthem before it demutualized in 2001. They were entitled to receive cash compensation equal to the fair value of their ownership interests when the company converted from a mutual company to a stock corporation. Ohio lawyer Eric Zagrans represented the class Plaintiffs in the lawsuit and he did a very good job.

Source: Insurance Journal