S&P puts Group Health on positive watch

Standard & Poor’s said it placed Group Health Cooperative’s BBB+ issuer credit and financial strength ratings on CreditWatch with positive implications.

The CreditWatch placement follows news that Group Health Cooperative will be acquired by Kaiser Permanente, the agency said.

The transaction will add nearly 590,000 members to Kaiser’s health plans, which are less than 10% of Kaiser’s total membership and will result in Group Health Cooperative establishing a Seattle-based foundation, focused on improving health in Washington state’s communities, S&P said.

The agency said it expects integration risk to be minimal given the longstanding working relationship between the companies.

S&P said it will resolve the CreditWatch placement when the transaction closes.

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