Health Care Insurer McKenna Acquired

McKenna & Associates, a regional insurance brokerage specializing in coverage for providers of managed health care, has been acquired by a unit of Chicago’s Aon Corp. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

McKenna, with 24 employees, is headquartered in Irvine and has offices in San Diego, Los Angeles, St. Louis, Miami and Scottsdale, Ariz.

Company founder Frank McKenna pioneered a specialty insurance product called stop-loss coverage for medical care providers who serve large groups of patients under fixed-cost contracts with health maintenance organizations. The coverage protects the hospitals or physician groups from losses when the cost of care for catastrophic illnesses exceeds the contractual fees.

The company also writes liability and employee benefits insurance for health care providers and has about $100 million in annual premiums in force.

Aon is a $7-billion-a-year insurance services holding company.

“This is not a huge deal for them, but they are a very well-managed company with a pattern of significant expansion through acquisitions,” said Joan T. Goodman, an industry analyst with the Pershing division of Donaldson Lufkin & Jenrette Securities Corp. in New York.