Fort Dearborn To Acquire Vt. Blue Benefits Agency

Combined Services, a subsidiary of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Vermont, is a general insurance agency that operates a network of ancillary benefits brokers in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont.

The price of the deal was not immediately available, but Health Care Service says it and Vermont Blue hope to complete the deal by the end of the year.

The deal includes a agreement that calls for Vermont Blue to continue to use Combined Services as its exclusive distributor of ancillary benefits for at least 5 years, Health Care Service says.

Moody's Investors Service, New York, hinted that a deal might be in the works by announcing recently that it might raise Health Care Service's debt ratings but that Health Care Service could expose itself to new integration headaches by making an acquisition.