MetraHealth

MetraHealth was a major health insurance and managed care provider formed in 1995 as a joint venture between Metropolitan Life Insurance Company (MetLife) and The Travelers Inc. The company was created to consolidate the group health businesses of its parent organizations, briefly becoming one of the largest healthcare payers in the United States. In October 1995, shortly after its formation, MetraHealth was acquired by United HealthCare Corporation (now UnitedHealth Group) for approximately $1.65 billion. This acquisition was a transformative event for UnitedHealth, providing the scale and national infrastructure necessary to become a dominant leader in the managed care industry. At the time of its acquisition, MetraHealth served over 10 million individuals across the U.S. The merger helped define the modern landscape of the American health insurance market by accelerating the shift toward managed care models.