HEALTH

HMO Suit Settled: Health Systems International said it has settled a lawsuit with its largest shareholder, a charitable foundation, which had accused the Woodland Hills-based managed-care company of improperly blocking the public sale of about $220 million in Health Systems stock. The suit, filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court, claimed that Health Systems and some company insiders tried to coerce the foundation into selling the stock at a discount to the market. Under the settlement, the foundation agreed to dismiss its suit. Health Systems has agreed to allow the foundation to register for the sale of 8 million shares of company stock before Dec. 31, 1998. Those shares have a current market value of $220 million, based on Health Systems’ Thursday closing price of $27.50. The foundation is a health care charity formed in 1992 as part of an agreement with state regulators that allowed the company to convert from nonprofit to for-profit status.