HMO Will Change Name to Settle Dispute

A small Inglewood health maintenance organization that had filed a lawsuit accusing a much larger rival with a nearly identical name of anti-competitive practices has agreed to change its name in order to settle the controversy. United Health Plan, an HMO operated by the nonprofit Watts Health Foundation, has agreed to change it name, allowing Minnetonka, Minn.-based United Healthcare Corp. to resume marketing its health insurance plans under the United name in Southern California. Terms of the settlement are confidential. Clyde Oden, United Health Plan’s chief executive, would not say if the settlement involved any financial payments to his company. Under the accord, the companies plan to pursue “mutually beneficial business relationships.” United Health Plan, which has about 80,000 members, has operated under that name since 1980. Oden said his company will announce its new name soon. A federal judge last year ordered United Healthcare, which has about 500,000 members in California, to market its products under the name MetraHealth until the suit was resolved.