U.S. company DeCare Dental, LLC, is parent of Irish companies in Claremorris and Cork
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(Dublin, Ireland) April 22nd, 2009- DeCare Dental, the Minnesota-based administrator for 10 dental insurance brands worldwide and the parent of three Irish companies, has been acquired by WellPoint, Inc. (NYSE:WLP), the United States’ largest health benefits provider.
“DeCare Dental’s new relationship with WellPoint is a major win for our Irish companies,” said Michael Walsh, who will remain president and CEO of DeCare Dental. “Becoming part of the largest U.S. health insurance company will let us vastly expand the number of customers we serve. That means more work in Ireland over time, because Ireland is where we base many of our global claims, service and technology operations.”
Irish companies in the DeCare family include DeCare Operations Ireland (DOI), a Claremorris claims processing operation; DeCare Systems Ireland (DSI) a Cork enterprise software development company; and DeCare Dental Insurance Ireland, a Claremorris-based insurance company that offers Ireland’s only comprehensive dental cover in partnership with Vhi Healthcare.
John Murphy will continue as General Manager of DeCare Systems Ireland. In Claremorris, Maureen Walsh will remain as General Manager of DeCare Dental Insurance Ireland and will continue to oversee DeCare Operations Ireland.
Today, the DeCare organization manages dental benefits for 4 million people in 22,000 employer groups worldwide. WellPoint has 34 million medical insurance members and approximately 4 million dental members.
“Our business is all about aggressive growth to help us build greater economies of scale,” said Walsh. “Because our Irish companies are such critical components of our whole infrastructure, they are also critical to our growth with WellPoint."
Contacts:
Fleishman-Hillard Dublin
Orla Burke
01 6188439 / 086 3831417
orla.burke@fleishmaneurope.com
DeCare Dental:
Media: Peter Stathopoulos
00 1 651 994 5410
pstathopoulos@decare.com
Heather Hofmeister
317-287-6036
hhofmeister@decare.com
WellPoint, Inc.:
Media: Tony Felts
00 1 651 994 5410
Investor Relations: Michael Kleinman
00 1 317 488 6713
About DeCare Dental – www.decare.com
With 40 years of proven success, the DeCare Dental family of companies is a leading dental benefits management group that oversees more than $1 billion in managed revenues, serving 4 million individuals in 22,000 employer groups including Fortune 500 corporations, small businesses, non-profits and government entities worldwide. DeCare Systems Ireland, based in Cork, is an enterprise software and web development company serving several of the world’s leading corporations. DeCare Operations Ireland, based in Claremorris, provides claims and customer service supporting DeCare Dental’s members and group clients. DeCare Dental Insurance Ireland is a Claremorris-based insurance company that provides dental cover in Ireland in partnership with Vhi Healthcare.
About WellPoint, Inc. -
WellPoint’s mission is to improve the lives of the people it serves and the health of its communities. WellPoint, Inc. is the largest health benefits company in terms of commercial membership in the United States. Through its nationwide networks, the company delivers a number of leading health benefit solutions through a broad portfolio of integrated health care plans and related services, along with a wide range of specialty products such as life and disability insurance benefits, pharmacy benefit management, dental, vision, behavioral health benefit services, as well as long term care insurance and flexible spending accounts. Headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, WellPoint is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association and serves its members as the Blue Cross licensee for California; the Blue Cross and Blue Shield licensee for Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Missouri (excluding 30 counties in the Kansas City area), Nevada, New Hampshire, New York (as Blue Cross Blue Shield in 10 New York City metropolitan and surrounding counties and as Blue Cross or Blue Cross Blue Shield in selected upstate counties only), Ohio, Virginia (excluding the Northern Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C.), Wisconsin; and through UniCare. Additional information about WellPoint is available at www.wellpoint.com.
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