FOR IMMEDIATE RELEAS
Contact: Meg Casper Sunstrom, Chief Communications Officer
February 8, 2024

BATON ROUGE, La. –Members of the Louisiana Senate’s Health & Welfare Committee and Insurance Committee issued a summary of their findings today after holding a joint meeting earlier this week to discuss the proposed reorganization and sale of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Louisiana to Elevance Health of Indiana. The sale, which must be approved by two-thirds of 95,000 Blue Cross policyholders and the Louisiana Commissioner of Insurance, would allow the state’s largest non-profit health insurer to be sold to a for-profit company.

The report includes 30 findings that the committee describe as “concerning” regarding the regulatory process and vote steering, the troubled history of Elevance Health, and the redirection of $3.1 billion from the policyholders to a new foundation, the Accelerate Louisiana Initiative.

“Earlier this week I presided over a nearly eight hour hearing on the reorganization and sale of Blue Cross to Elevance and I am more convinced than ever that this deal is bad for the 95,000 policyholders who do get to vote, the 1.8 million who do not get to vote, the 34,000 healthcare providers in the Blue Cross network, the 2,500 Blue Cross employees, and honestly the 4.6 million people who live in Louisiana,” said Senator Patrick McMath, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Health and Welfare. “There are some fundamental problems with how this is being put forth to the public, especially the very one-sided voting process that includes blatant vote steering and monetary enticement. This proposal is not good and it needs to be stopped now.”  

Topics of concern included in the findings that were sent to Commissioner of Insurance Tim Temple on behalf of both committees include voting methods used to steer the votes in favor of Blue Cross, the integrity of Elevance Health due to a history of fines, penalties, lawsuits, premium increases, rate reductions and potential workforce reductions that are part of their track record, and the creation of a new foundation with sale proceeds redirected from policyholders to a new foundation, the Accelerate Louisiana Initiative. Chairman McMath concluded after an in-depth assessment of the foundation that the “Accelerate Louisiana initiative seems to be a $3.1 billion vacuum of vague intentions.”

Looking ahead, the Louisiana Department of Insurance will host public meetings on the proposed reorganization and sale on Wednesday, February 14^th and Thursday, February 15^th beginning at 10:00 am.  More information can be found at www.ldi.la.gov.