I can’t afford a full defense of Blue Shield’s lawsuit over my whistleblowing, so I’ve been forced to accept a court order restricting what I can say about the company.
Attorney General Xavier Becerra tells the appeals court, “Any effort to challenge a whistleblower’s voluntary reports to state oversight agencies raises serious concerns…”
Blue Shield is the only major California insurer whose profits and administrative expenses in 2015 exceeded Obamacare maximums, requiring it to pay rebates this fall.
By reporting costs resulting from administrative errors as medical expenses, Blue Shield appears to have shortchanged customers on rebates required by Obamacare’s limits on profits and administrative expenses.
A California regulator ruled that nonprofit Blue Shield has no public benefit duty, potentially costing Californians billions of dollars. She refuses to explain her decision.
Blue Shield made a huge Obamacare profit in 2014 partly by hindering access to care. That triggered a $107-million-excess-profit tax that it then forced enrollees to pay, at a cost of $223 each.
The ruling by California’s health plan regulator that Blue Shield has no charitable trust obligation frees the nonprofit insurer to disregard the public good and privatizes its billions in assets.
Nonprofit Blue Shield is planning to include in its Obamacare rates for next year the highest profit and administrative expense margin of any California health insurer.
Leon Panetta said he joined the board of Blue Shield because it is nonprofit and serves the “welfare of the entire community.” If he meant what he said, he needs to bring management into line.
Blue Shield, which made headlines yesterday with its lavish and secretive compensation of top executives, is accused in a class action lawsuit of failing to pay its lowest-paid workers their full wages.
Blue Shield must pay rebates of over $100 per enrollee and hand over to the government $93 million in excess profits because it overcharged for Obamacare coverage in 2014.
In a message to employees, Blue Shield CEO Paul Markovich laughed off a front-page LA Times article detailing blistering criticism of the nonprofit by California authorities who revoked its tax exemption.
Blue Shield should either act like a nonprofit and provide benefits to the public worth 5% of its assets or formally convert to for-profit status and relinquish its nonprofit assets to a public benefit foundation.
The Department of Managed Health Care announced yesterday that it would conduct an examination of Blue Shield’s "charitable trust" obligation, or duty to work for public benefit.