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Highmark Inc. official charged in assault case

Kenneth Melani in 2008, when he was in merger talks with Independence Blue Cross. CLEM MURRAY / Staff Photographer

By Jane M. Von Bergen, INQUIRER STAFF WRITER

Posted: March 30, 2012

Kenneth Melani was supposed to become the new CEO of Independence Blue Cross under terms of a proposed merger with Highmark Inc., the state's largest health insurer.

Now, Melani, 58, is on unpaid leave from the Pittsburgh insurer, charged with simple assault and defiant trespass, both misdemeanor offenses, after allegedly getting into a fistfight with his mistress' estranged husband Sunday afternoon.

According to the authorities, Melani said that if the police had not been there, he would have killed his mistress, Melissa Myler, and her husband, Mark Myler.

When Highmark and Independence Blue Cross announced their proposal to merge in 2007, Melani was slated to become chief executive and Joseph Frick, who headed Independence Blue Cross, was to take the number-two spot. In one tense hearing on the merger plan, Melani reddened in anger when then-U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter raised questions about his compensation.

Meeting stiff opposition, the two insurers withdrew their proposal in early 2009.

The two companies, however, have many links in common: Highmark provides some services for Independence Blue Cross subscribers, and in February the two insurers became partners in a deal to buy a Boston health-technology firm.

A two-page police report obtained by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette details a tumultuous afternoon. Melissa Myler told police that Melani had hired her in October, and that an affair ensued. They moved in together after Melani's wife, Tracy, told Mark Myler about the affair.

According to the report, Melissa Myler said she learned that Melani was having her investigated. He walked into the Myler house, the report said, and accused her of cheating on him, then refused to leave. The men traded blows on the porch, police said.

Highmark issued a statement describing the incident as a "personal matter" and would not say what Melissa Myler's job entailed. Independence Blue Cross spokeswoman Judimarie Thomas had no comment.

Melani's attorney, Robert Del Greco, did not return a call seeking comment.

Contact Jane M. Von Bergen at 215-854-2769, jvonbergen@phillynews.com or @JaneVonBergen on Twitter. Read her Jobbing blog at www.philly.com/jobbing.