Angelides not giving up on merger fight

California Treasurer Phil Angelides will continue trying to block the merger of WellPoint Health Networks Inc. and Anthem Inc., despite yesterday's 97% shareholder vote backing the deal. He plans to raise his objections at a July 9 hearing of the California Department of Managed Health Care. Mr. Angelides is a trustee of the $160.9 billion California Public Employees' Retirement System and the $116 billion California State Teachers' Retirement System; both plans voted their shares against the merger. "We will continue to oppose this merger, calling on Gov. (Arnold) Schwarzenegger and his Department of Managed Health Care to condition its approval of any WellPoint-Anthem merger on the elimination of the excessive executive compensation package that could cost more than a half billion dollars," he said in a statement. The merger requires the approval of California regulators, the only one of 11 states that hasn't yet approved the deal, according to a statement by the companies.