NU Online News Service, Jan. 9, 2004, 11:48 a.m. EST – PacifiCare Health Systems Inc., Cypress, Calif., says the ongoing Southern California grocery strike could cut its 2004 earnings more than 2%.[@@]
PacifiCare has provided full-risk health maintenance organization coverage for 48,000 Southern California members of the United Food and Commercial Workers union, and PacifiCare's pharmacy benefit management unit has administered a self-funded drug plan for 200,000 union members.
More than half of the union HMO members lost their PacifiCare health coverage Jan. 1 because they had not worked enough hours during the previous quarter to qualify for coverage, PacifiCare says.
Half of the drug plan members lost eligibility for prescription drug benefits.
