UnitedHealthcare buys Preferred Care, Medica HMOs

UnitedHealthcare, the giant nationwide insurer, announced Tuesday it has agreed to purchase two Miami-Dade based Medicare and Medicaid insurance plans that have more than 100,000 members and eight clinics. Terms of the two deals were not announced. UHC's earlier foray into the Miami-Dade market proved disastrous. In 1994, UHC spent $500 million for another HMO, CAC Ramsey HMO and its 18 clinics. The Minneapolis-based UHC "didn't understand the culture," said former CAC Ramsey executive Miguel "Mike" Fernandez in a 2007 interview.