PacifiCare Expands Texas Presence With Houston Office

CYPRESS —  PacifiCare Health Systems Inc., a $1.7-billion-a-year health maintenance organization, said Tuesday that it is opening an office in Houston, expanding farther into Texas.

PacifiCare has had offices in the San Antonio area since 1986 but is now launching a strategy to grab market share in other parts of that state, Chief Executive Terry Hartshorn said in a prepared statement.

PacifiCare of Texas now has 53,500 members and an additional 18,000 senior members in its Secure Horizons plan, the company said.

“Based on (the San Antonio) success, we would now like to make our health plan available to other regions of the state, starting with Houston,” Hartshorn said.

Kimberly A. Purvis, an analyst with brokerage Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette in New York, said the move is in keeping with PacifiCare’s strategy of deepening its presence in the Pacific Northwest and Southwest. The company currently has nearly 1 million members in operations in California, Washington, Oregon, Texas and Oklahoma.

“I don’t see them expanding outside their current states,” Purvis said. “They don’t have any aspirations on the national market.”

PacifiCare stock, traded on the NASDAQ market, was hit hard Tuesday in an apparent rush by investors away from all health care stocks, closing at $40.25 a share, down $7.50 a share from Friday’s close.