(INDYSTAR) – The Indiana Department of Insurance on Monday took control of a troubled Indianapolis-based health insurer and made plans to help policyholders get coverage from another company.

About 6,500 people — a third of them in Indiana — have plans with Medical Savings Insurance Co. and will have the opportunity to switch to comparable high- deductible plans with Golden Rule Insurance Co., an Indianapolis-based unit of health insurance giant UnitedHealth Group.

Medical Savings, headquartered on the city’s Northwestside, was placed in receivership because it no longer was able to maintain the required financial reserves insurers must keep in order to pay claims, according to Jim Atterholt, commissioner of the state Department of Insurance.

Patrick Rooney, a well-known Indianapolis insurance executive who founded and led Medical Savings, had been supporting the company, according to Atterholt. But those payments stopped after Rooney, 80, died in September.

Rooney previously had been chairman and chief executive of Golden Rule before retiring from there in 1996. Golden Rule later was acquired by UnitedHealth.

Medical Savings has about 30 employees, but Atterholt said some of those workers could find employment with Golden Rule.

Marion Circuit Judge Theodore Sosin approved the state’s plan to transfer coverage to Golden Rule.

Greg Thompson, a spokesman for UnitedHealth, said all Medical Savings members are eligible to switch to Golden Rule plans. He added that, in some cases, customers may be offered lower premiums.

“We’re trying to make it happen as quickly as possible,” he said, adding that letters are being sent to Medical Savings members. Thompson said applications from Medical Savings members will be due Dec. 31.

During the transition, Atterholt said it is important for Medical Savings members to keep paying their premiums and for doctors to keep accepting those plans.