Most Group Health members won’t be eligible to vote on acquisition

Most Group Health members won’t be able to vote on the nonprofit cooperative’s proposed acquisition by Kaiser Permanente, officials confirmed Monday.

Less than 5 percent of the 590,000 Group Health members are registered to vote, and the health cooperative’s bylaws require members to register at least 60 days before a special meeting is held.

Group Health has a Jan. 30 special meeting scheduled on the acquisition – 57 days from the time the proposed acquisition by Kaiser Permanente was announced on Friday. That meeting will be followed by mail-in voting, with ballots accepted through March 9.

“So yes, it is too late for members to register to vote on the acquisition,” said Angela Matson, a Group Health spokeswoman in Spokane.

Approval by members is required for the acquisition to go through. The deal also must be approved by Washington state Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler.

The 60-day registration requirement is intended to prevent a last-minute influx of voters, Matson said in an email.

“Our trustees and founders were not supportive of ‘one-issue voters’ or special interest groups who had not already made the commitment to taking part in the (health insurance cooperative),” she said.

About 27,000 Group Health members are registered to vote. The co-op sends out reminders in its digital newsletter and annual mailings, but it’s up to members to decide whether to become voting members, she said.

Group Health was formed in Seattle in 1947 to provide health care and insurance in the Northwest. About 65,000 of its members are in Spokane and North Idaho.

The acquisition by Kaiser Permanente, which serves more than 10 million members in eight states and Washington, D.C., could take a year to complete, both parties said last week.