Business
Blues plan appeals Alaska decision
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted Sept. 13, 2004
Premera Blue Cross, whose request to convert to a for-profit plan was turned down by Alaska insurance officials, in August appealed the decision to a state court in Alaska, but said it also is confident it can revise its application to the satisfaction of Alaska Insurance Director Linda Hall so that she will reconsider.
Mountlake Terrace, Wash.-based Premera said it had filed the appeal to preserve its rights in case it ultimately must ask a judge to reverse Hall's decision. But Hall, though rejecting Premera's bid to go for-profit in its current form, left the door open to possibly re-evaluating the application if the health plan built various safeguards into it, such as agreeing to extend the period during which it would limit premium increases.
Premera has customers in Alaska and Washington. Regulators in Washington recently rejected the plan's conversion request; Premera has filed an appeal with a judge in that state.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2004/09/13/bibf0913.htm.