Securities and Exchange Commission
Washington, D.C. 20549
FORM 8-K
Current Report Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of
The Securities Exchange Act of 1934
Date of Report (Date of Earliest Event Reported): February 8, 2006
Commission File Number: 0-30018
MERIDIAN HOLDINGS, INC.
(Exact name of registrants specified in its charter)
COLORADO 52-2133742
(State or other jurisdiction of (I.R.S. Employer
incorporation or organization) Identification No.)
6201 Bristol Parkway
Culver City, California 90230
(213) 627-8878 Fax: (310) 215-0404
(Address, Including Zip Code, And Telephone Number, Including Area Code,
Of Registrant's Principal Executive Offices)
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SECTION 1. Registrant's Business and Operations
Item 1.01 Entry into Material Definitive Agreement
On February 3, 2006, Meridian Health Systems, a healthcare services division,
of the registrant, entered into an Exclusive Healthcare Services and Project
Teaming Agreement with Los Angeles Hispanic Health Network, (LHHN), a Los
Angeles Metropolitan Hispanic Chambers of Commerce initiative.
SECTION 2. Financial Information Not Applicable
SECTION 3. Securities and Trading Markets Not Applicable
SECTION 4. Matters Relating to Accountants and Financial Statements
SECTION 5. Corporate governance and Management Not Applicable
SECTION 6. Reserved Not Applicable
SECTION 7. Regulation FD
Item 7.01 Regulation Full Disclosure
On February 8, 2006, the registrant issued a press release announcing that
Meridian Health Systems, a healthcare services division of Meridian Holdings,
Inc, has entered into an Exclusive Healthcare Services and Project Teaming
Agreement with Los Angeles Hispanic Health Network, (LHHN), a Los Angeles
Metropolitan Hispanic Chambers of Commerce initiative.
SECTION 8: Other Events
SECTION 9: Financial Statements and Exhibits
Item 9.01 Financial Statements and Exhibits
c. Exhibits
EXHIBIT ITEM. DESCRIPTION
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Exhibit 99.1 - A copy of the press release of February 8, 2006.
SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended,
the Registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the
undersigned hereunto duly authorized.
Meridian Holdings, Inc.
(Registrant)
Date: February 8, 2006 By:/s/ Anthony C. Dike
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Anthony C. Dike
(Chairman, Chief Executive Officer)
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EXHIBIT 99.1
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Wednesday 6am, EST February 8, 2006
Meridian Health Systems, a division of Meridian Holdings, Inc, Inks an Exclusive
Healthcare Services and Project Teaming Agreement with Los Angeles Hispanic
Health Network
Culver City, California, February 8, 2006 -- Anthony C. Dike, MD, Chairman and
CEO of Meridian Holdings, Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: MRDH), announced today that
Meridian Health Systems, a healthcare services division of Meridian Holdings,
Inc, has entered into an Exclusive Healthcare Services and Project Teaming
Agreement with Los Angeles Hispanic Health Network, (LHHN), a Los Angeles
Metropolitan Hispanic Chambers of Commerce initiative.
Under the terms of this three-year automatically renewable agreement, Meridian
will arrange for the provision of healthcare services on an exclusive basis to
enrolled employees and relatives of small to medium sized Hispanic employer
groups and self employed individual members of LHHN, in a culturally sensitive
manner, through Meridian's network of affiliated physicians, hospitals and other
ancillary services providers initially within Greater Los Angeles County, with
later expansion to other areas of United States and abroad.
The company projects that this agreement with LHHN which initially is estimated
to provide increased health insurance purchasing power to over 500 employer
groups mainly in Los Angeles metropolitan area, will provide revenue to Meridian
based on member enrollments and network access fees.
"We believe that this initiative by the Los Angeles Metropolitan Hispanic
Chambers of Commerce is a move in the right direction, since California's System
of job-based health insurance--the backbone of California's system of health
insurance--is declining, according to a report produced by the UCLA Center for
Health Policy Research. The report also concludes that while job-based family
coverage plummets, children's coverage is being protected by public insurance
programs, such as Medi-Cal and Healthy Families.
Pushed by a 79 percent increase in the cost of job-based family coverage for the
average worker, enrollment of dependents dropped four percentage points for
children and two percentage point for adults from 2001 to 2003. According to
this report, more than 6.6 million Californians under age 65-more than one in
five non-elderly residents-went without insurance for at least part of 2003, and
more than 3.7 million lacked health insurance coverage for the entire year."
said Dike. "The increased purchasing power and collective bargaining capability
built into the plan will help address this problem among the LHHN membership,"
he said.
"We are very excited about this agreement with Meridian, since the majority of
the work force in Southern California for small and medium sized employer groups
is comprised of Hispanic males and females most of which lacked basic health
insurance coverage. Those without health insurance were much less likely to have
seen a doctor, gotten vital preventive screenings for cancer and diabetes, or
taken medication for high blood pressure." said Hugo Merida, President and CEO
of Los Angeles Metropolitan Hispanic Chambers of Commerce.
About Los Angeles Hispanic Health Network
A "Mutual Benefit Corporation" that is organized and managed by appointed
and/or contracted directors of The Los Angeles Metropolitan Hispanic Chambers of
Commerce ("LAMHCC") for the purposes of providing a voluntary associations of
various individuals, organizations and institutions to provide affordable health
services for employers, employees, individuals and their families.
About Meridian Health Systems and Meridian Holdings, Inc.
Meridian Health Systems is a health services division of Meridian Holdings,
Inc., which has developed a wide variety of health care services programs both
in the continental United States and abroad.
Meridian Holdings, Inc. is a Healthcare Services and Technology Company.
Meridian's network of affiliated companies is designed to encourage maximum
leverage of information technology, operational excellence, industry expertise
and synergistic business opportunity. Meridian is committed to building
shareholder value by positioning affiliated companies as independent business
entities in which Meridian shareholders enjoy equity participation. Visit
Meridian's web site at www.meho.com.
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NOTE: Statements in this news release that are not purely historical are
forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities
Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and are made
pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995 and any amendments thereto. Material that is forward-looking
may contain statements about expected future events and/or financial results
that are forward-looking in nature. Editors and investors are cautioned that
such forward-looking statements invoke risk and uncertainties that may cause the
Company's results to differ from such forward-looking statements. These include,
but are not limited to, economic, competitive, governmental, technological and
other factors discussed in the statements and/or in the Company's filings with
the Securities and Exchange Commission.
For Further Information:
Meridian Holdings, Inc.
Anthony C. Dike, MD
Chairman/CEO
www.meho.com
213-627-8878
Los Angeles Hispanic Health Network
Mr. Hugo Merida
President and CEO
www.chamberla.org
213-739-7016