DENVER – The number of Colorado residents enrolled in HMOs has dipped below 1 million for the first time in years, according to the latest quarterly filing with the Colorado Division of Insurance.
A total of 990,287 people were insured through health-maintenance organizations as of Sept. 30. That’s down from 1.5 million enrollees in 2001.
Employers have spurred the decline by opting for less expensive plans, such as so-called consumer-driven health plans. The nonprofit Colorado Access also decided to eliminate its HMO offering.
BROOMFIELD
Vail Resorts exec to depart in March
Vail Resorts announced Wednesday that Martha Rehm, executive vice president and general counsel, is leaving the company. The Broomfield- based company said it will launch a search for a new general counsel. Rehm will remain in her position until March 31.
ENGLEWOOD
Coast to Coast buys five more RV resorts
Coast to Coast Resorts, owner of outdoor RV resorts and campgrounds, announced Wednesday it has purchased five additional Holiday Trails Resorts in the Pacific Northwest and Canada.
Englewood-based Coast to Coast is the largest member- only network of CampResorts in North America.
DENVER
Foundation expands immigrant initiative
The Colorado Trust has granted $4.5 million to strengthen its immigrant-integration initiative in more Colorado communities.
Colorado’s rapidly growing immigrant population, and the initial successes of 10 community grantees currently funded under its Supporting Immigrant and Refugee Families Initiative, led the Colorado Trust to expand this effort to nine additional Colorado communities.
COLORADO SPRINGS
Newspaper appoints executive editor
The Colorado Springs Independent on Wednesday named Ralph Routon executive editor, beginning next month.
Routon, 54, a former columnist at the Colorado Springs Gazette, spent the last five years at newspapers in Florida and Texas.
SAN FRANCISCO
Cookie-scented ads yanked from shelters
Cookie-scented strips were ordered off San Francisco bus shelters Tuesday, and now city officials are considering a ban on advertisers’ efforts to use the powerful sense of smell on the captive audience waiting for a bus.
The cookie aroma was part of the “Got milk?” ad campaign by the California Milk Processor Board. The scent strips drew national attention, both for their novelty – scented outdoor advertising had never been tried in the United States – and for the controversy that ensued.
NEW YORK
Newspaper investors
find no relief at forum
Investors in the newspaper sector, which has been battered by years of weak advertising revenues and declining circulation, found little relief in updates from Gannett Co., McClatchy Co. and The New York Times Co. on Wednesday.
All three companies gave presentations at the annual Credit Suisse Media & Telecom Week conference in New York.
Gannett, the largest U.S. newspaper publisher, said it expects fourth-quarter earnings at the higher end of a range between $1.46 and $1.49 a share. Analysts had been anticipating a profit of $1.49 a share.
New York Times chief executive Janet Robinson reiterated that the company has no intention of selling the Boston Globe.
HARTFORD, Conn.
Former Cendant CEO confined during appeal
A federal judge ordered home confinement Wednesday for former Cendant Corp. executive E. Kirk Shelton while he appeals his conviction on conspiracy and fraud charges.
Shelton, the former vice chairman of Cendant, was sentenced last year to 10 years in prison after being convicted of conspiracy and fraud. He also was ordered to pay $3.27 billion in restitution to Cendant, including a payment of $15 million and monthly installments of $2,000 after he is released from prison.
HERSHEY, Pa.
Candymaker cuts earnings estimates
Candymaker Hershey Co. on Wednesday cut its earnings estimates for 2006 after a massive recall and a temporary plant closure in Canada last month.
Last month, Hershey recalled products such as Hershey bars, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups and Oh Henry bars after salmonella bacteria turned up in an Ontario, Canada, plant.
NEW YORK
Sirius to offer live TV channels for cars
Sirius Satellite Radio Inc., the second-largest pay-radio provider, plans to introduce three channels of video for a live television service for cars next year, chief financial officer David Frear said Wednesday. The video will be displayed on the back seats of cars to help keep children entertained while traveling.
