Published January 2004

State to delay decision
on Premera conversion plan

SCBJ Staff

The state insurance commissioner agreed in December to delay until June a decision on whether Premera Blue Cross should be allowed to become a for-profit company.

Commissioner Mike Kreidler said he will make his final decision by June 7 after a final hearing on March 29.

Premera, the state’s largest health insurer and one of Snohomish County’s biggest employers, has asserted over the past year that becoming a for-profit company with shareholders would help raise capital to improve services and technology. The Mountlake Terrace-based company’s conversion from nonprofit status requires approval from the insurance commissioner and the state attorney general.

The previous schedule called for the hearing in January, with a decision by March 15. Early in December, Premera asked for the delay. The request came after consultants hired by the Insurance Commissioner’s Office raised warnings in their reports about Premera’s proposed conversion.

Premera spokesman Scott Forslund said the later deadline would give the company time to discuss issues raised in reports with the insurance commissioner. Kreidler’s staff agreed on that point and recommended the delay.

A coalition of hospital and health-care representatives that has been critical of Premera’s conversion opposed the later decision deadline. Cassie Sauer, spokeswoman for the Washington State Hospital Association, said Premera was past the deadline for making major changes to its proposal.

Oct. 15 was the deadline for formal changes to Premera’s initial application. That deadline, however, didn’t prevent future changes in order to respond to state officials’ concerns, Forslund said.

Sandi Peck, spokeswoman for the Office of the Insurance Commissioner, said if the conversion plan is changed substantially, the state could hold additional public hearings.

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