HEALTH

Kaiser Merges with N.Y. HMO: Expanding its presence in the fast-growing Northeast market, Kaiser Foundation Health Plan is merging with Community Health Plan, an Albany-based health plan with 398,000 members in New York, Connecticut, Vermont and Massachusetts. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, but Kaiser said there would be no cash outlay for the transaction. Community Health, like Kaiser a nonprofit company, will be merged into Kaiser’s Northeast region, where Kaiser has 120,000 members in Connecticut, New York and Massachusetts. Kaiser is one of several large California-based health maintenance organizations to expand recently in the Northeast. Oakland-based Kaiser, the nation’s largest HMO, currently has 6.8 million members in 16 states.