Aetna, based in Hartford, Conn., on Friday said it had finished its purchase of the assets Magellan Health Services previously used to provide behavior health-care services to Aetna's members and will assume ownership of the assets effective today.
As of Sunday, Aetna will launch a full-service behavioral health business and enter the market with approximately 11 million members.
The assets purchased from Magellan include three dedicated behavioral health-care service centers, a national provider network and nearly 500 employees who had been employed by Magellan. The service centers are located in El Segundo, Calif.; Sandy; and King of Prussia, Pa. The transaction is the result of an agreement between Aetna and Magellan negotiated in March 2003.