Voting members of Seattle-based Group Health Cooperative have agreed to join with Oakland, Calif.-based Kaiser Permanente, according to the Seattle Times.
The two organizations signed a definitive agreement to join forces last December, and Kaiser officials submitted their takeover plan to Washington State Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler earlier this month.
Once the acquisition plan was submitted, the deal required support from two-thirds of Group Health's voting members to move forward. Voting 8,824 to 1,586 by mail, the members approved the transaction, according to the report.
With the deal approved by Group Health, Mr. Kreidler will continue his review of the acquisition.
Under the transaction, Kaiser would acquire Group Health for $1.8 billion. Those funds would be used to establish a new nonprofit community foundation in Seattle. Through the acquisition, Kaiser would significantly expand its geographic footprint in the state of Washington.
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