INDIANAPOLIS — The brother of former President George H.W. Bush collapsed during health insurer WellPoint Inc.’s annual meeting this morning, abruptly ending a gathering that had grown testy with criticism from some shareholders.
William H.T. Bush, 71, was taken to Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis and admitted as a precaution, a company spokeswoman said this afternoon. She added that he was alert and that doctors were evaluating his health.
Bush has served on the company’s board of directors since 2004. He was sitting with other directors during a question-and-answer session when he moaned and leaned to his right side about an hour into the meeting. WellPoint officials cleared the room and called for help.
Dr. Rob Stone, an emergency room doctor and frequent WellPoint critic who attended the meeting, rushed with some other people to Bush. Stone said he stayed with the director until help arrived. He said Bush was alert and talking.
“I felt like he was going to be OK,” Stone said.
The director was sitting up on a stretcher as emergency workers pulled him out about 25 minutes after he collapsed.
WellPoint, the largest commercial health insurer based on enrollment, runs Blue Cross Blue Shield plans in 14 states and Unicare plans in several others.
The insurer has received strong criticism from the Obama administration and others for planning rate hikes of 25 percent or more for some of its customers. Several company critics attended the meeting.
Arlene Zarembka, an attorney from Clayton, Mo., told WellPoint CEO Angela Braly that her insurance premiums for herself and her one employee were jumping 28 percent — an increase she called “outrageous.”
Zarembka asked Braly if WellPoint would end its opposition to federal oversight of premium increases.
“I cannot sustain this,” she said. “I do not want to lose my employee, I do not want to be forced out of business.”
Braly outlined several factors that affect premiums, including the rising cost of care and the health of people in an insurer’s risk pool.
“Just regulating the premium rates without fully appreciating what goes into the cost of care, which is in the premium … it misses the mark,” Braly said.
Some shareholders were not happy WellPoint adjourned its meeting so soon after Bush became ill. Julia Vaughn, who represented the consumer group Citizens Action Coalition at the meeting, implored Braly to continue as several people attended to Bush, who was laying on the floor.
“I don’t think Angela is a nurse,” Vaughn shouted while WellPoint officials tried to clear the room.
After the meeting, Vaughn led a protest outside WellPoint’s headquarters. About 70 people gathered to listen to a singer and some speakers. Many held signs asking for a single-payer health system and warning passers-by that for-profit health insurers are “Hazardous to your Health.”
Bush, known as “Bucky,” lives in suburban St. Louis. He has been active in Republican politics and served as Missouri campaign chairman for George W. Bush’s 2004 re-election campaign. During a 2003 news conference announcing he would lead the state’s Bush-Cheney campaign, William H.T. Bush recalled baby-sitting and coaching the future president.
Bush has served on the boards of several companies and investment funds. He also is founder and chairman of Bush-O’Donnell &Co. Inc., a St. Louis investment management and financial advisory firm.
WellPoint shares rose 8 cents to $53.60 in trading this afternoon.
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