WellPoint To Buy 1-800 Contacts
The Associated Press: Health Insurer WellPoint To Buy 1-800 Contacts
WellPoint Inc. plans to buy contact lens retailer 1-800-Contacts Inc. in a deal that would give the insurer its first direct-to-consumer business outside selling individual health coverage. … 1-800 Contacts currently has about 3.3 million customers. WellPoint Chairwoman and CEO Angela Braly said in a statement that the business comes with a significant growth opportunity because there are more than 38 million people wearing eye contact lenses and more than 140 million people wearing eye glasses in the United States (Murphy, 6/4).