2 Insurance Associations to Merge

Two powerful health insurance associations are merging, forming a giant lobby that will speak with one voice as it fights against a patients’ bill of rights and other government regulations. The Health Insurance Assn. of America, which represents traditional health insurance companies, and the American Assn. of Health Plans, which represents managed care companies, will announce their intent to merge today, said two people familiar with the plans. The merger represents the changing face of health insurance in America, where there was once a clear distinction between traditional insurance plans, under which patients can go to any doctor or hospital, and health maintenance organizations, in which they must choose a doctor from an approved list.