Humana( HUM), one of the nation's largest publically traded health insurers -- has appointed CEO Michael McCallister as chairman of the company's board of directors. The company did not give a reason for Jones' resignation as chairman. Jones will remain on Humana's board and continue to work as managing director of venture capital firm Chrysalis Ventures, according to a press release .

Jones became chairman in April 2005 and increased revenues from $13.1 billion in 2004 to $31.0 billion in 2009. "I am grateful for my board colleagues' vote of confidence and I look forward keenly to fulfilling the additional responsibility of board chairman with their superb counsel and support," McCallister said in a press release. --Written by Maria Woehr in New York. [Read the full article]

Health insurer Health Net Inc. said Thursday that board member Thomas Farley died earlier in the week at the age of 75.

Farley, who died on Monday, had been a member of the company's board since 1997 and served on the audit, finance, and governance committees.

Farley was a senior partner in the Petersen & Fonda law firm in Pueblo, Colo., and a member of the board of governors of the Colorado State University System. He was also a director/adviser of Wells Fargo Bank of Pueblo and Sunset and a member of the board of regents of Santa Clara University.

Farley also had been a director of the Finance Council of the Catholic Diocese in Southern Colorado and of Catholic Charities in Southern Colorado.

The board now has nine directors and will start evaluating candidates for a replacement, the company said. [Read the full article]

Community Blue, the HMO product of BlueCross BlueShield of WNY, was ranked No. 1 statewide with the lowest ratio of complaints upheld by the State Insurance Department. The Buffalo-based company, part of HealthNow NY, is among nonprofit and commercial insurance companies statewide included in a new guide by the State Insurance Department: 2010 New York Consumer Guide to Health Insurers. The guide, released Wednesday, is designed to help consumers select a health plan based on quality of care and service. The guide shares information on premiums and complaints, including how complaints filed with both the insurance department and with the State Department of Health were resolved. According to the report, a better rank means that the health insurer had fewer upheld complaints, relative to its size. If the ratios are the same, the health insurer with the largest premium is ranked higher. [Read the full article]

Adds Over 100,000 Medicare Advantage and 290,000 PDP Members Creates Seventh Largest Medicare Advantage Plan in the Country Immediately Accretive to Earnings Transaction Expected to Close by Year-end

HealthSpring, Inc. (NYSE:HS - News) today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire all of the outstanding capital stock of Bravo Health, Inc., an operator of Medicare Advantage coordinated care plans in Pennsylvania, the Mid-Atlantic region, and Texas, and Medicare Part D stand-alone prescription drug plans in 43 states.

HealthSpring will acquire Bravo Health, a privately held company, for $545.0 million. The transaction will be financed through the use of unrestricted cash and borrowings under an amended revolving credit facility and new term loan facilities that will be established simultaneously with the closing of the transaction. [Read the full article]