Comments on: Blue Cross Blue Shield rate hikes approved every year since 2004

By: wondering002

wondering002 — Mon, 10 May 2010 23:46:47 +0000

BCBS was advertising for an attorney with experience in insurance rates issues. I am wondering if Mr. Chavez will be going to work for BCBS.

By: R Thomas Berner

R Thomas Berner — Sun, 09 May 2010 20:11:53 +0000

Hank Hughes will do a great job for the consumer on the PRC. Vote for Hank (and I say that as a Republican).

By: Donald G. Farnsworth

Donald G. Farnsworth — Fri, 07 May 2010 04:29:58 +0000

Why in the world would Blue Cross Blue Shield NM respond to requests for comment on the rate increases or requests for information regarding executive salaries, much less disclose their tax filings or say whether or not this not-for-profit division of the Health Care Service Corporation will be providing those filings to policyholders if Blue Cross Blue Shield NM is not under any obligation to do any of these things?

By: Steve Rogers

Steve Rogers — Thu, 06 May 2010 21:45:40 +0000

Are you New Mexico Public Regulation Commissioner Jason Marks (Dist. 1), who also maintains a personal blog at http://www.jasonmarks.com/ ?

By: rocket5

rocket5 — Thu, 06 May 2010 06:58:14 +0000

Thank you for your reply Mr. Marks. Your integrity is noted. Perhaps the Commissioners might consider conducting a review to see if the former S.I. investigated complaints from consumers about BCBS. This whole thing seems so murky and suspicios that the Commission should consider something along the lines of an audit, performance review or some other quality assurance process regarding how this could slip through the cracks. Thankis again for responding.

By: jasonmarks

jasonmarks — Thu, 06 May 2010 05:51:42 +0000

Believe it or not, with everything else that we have to deal with, the trend in BC rate increases did go "under our radar screen" until this year. I was personally aware of isolated complaints from BC customers about premiums. But we were never presented with data that tied these individual instances together into a systematic issue until this February, when DoI staff came to the Commission to let us know we might be hearing a lot of complaints because large increases had gone out affecting 40,000 subscribers.

Upon learning this, the PRC acted to direct the (former) Superintendent to put a temporary hold on the rate increase that he or his staff had already approved in December, and to hold a hearing on how much, if any of the rate increase, to allow.

You are correct, the Commission's control over Insurance flows out of our ability to determine who occupies the Superintendent's office. Unfortunately, the Commissioners have no legal avenue that I'm aware of to rescind the approval. The best I can offer is that we will take steps so that the staff and the new superintendent take a more skeptical approach to future health insurance rate increases

By: rocket5

rocket5 — Wed, 05 May 2010 23:02:35 +0000

Mr. Marks: Doesn't the PRC have control over the Superintendent of Insurance employment – - meaning you could fire him/her? It seems to me that the PRC commissioners were tactically agreeing to the rate increases by not confronting the Superintendent of Insurance's actions in the past 4 years. I write this despite my utmost respect for you comments about better transparency when the public meeting was cancelled because of the rate increase deal. By the way, our premiums were jacked up another $200 a month for my family. This is a serious issue and I hope the PRC commissioners can take some kind of action to rescind the approval.

By: Eddie

Eddie — Wed, 05 May 2010 20:26:56 +0000

Terrific photo – would you buy a used car from this guy?

By: jasonmarks

jasonmarks — Wed, 05 May 2010 10:05:10 +0000

Mr. Haney: Under current statutes, PRC Commissioners do not have any direct regulatory authority over health insurance rates. The power to approve (or disapprove) rate increases was vested directly in the Superintendent of Insurance by the Legislature, and appeals of Superintendent's rulings in this area bypass the Commission and go directly to District Court.

In contrast, PRC Commissioner have direct authority over utility and telephone rates, and I could probably tell you in detail about every PNM or Qwest rate that's occurred during my five year term.

By: Terry_Black

Terry_Black — Wed, 05 May 2010 09:40:11 +0000

Your hasty conclusion based on nothing other than my expressed perspective betrays contempt for genuine independent thought. If the report even nodded at the reams of paper insurance companies submit, compiled by career specialty attorney’s whose expertise daunts the thin resources of PRC staff, I might have more to say regarding their conclusions of corruption.

If you must know, I don’t have health insurance, and don’t work for an insurance company. But I’m quite experienced at recognizing advocacy media and calling spade when the advocacy always points in the same direction. Call analysis conspiracy theory, and claim “we” get news from so-called independent sites. It doesn’t change the consistent purpose of this site – to advocate for corporate interests who make their living off of one-sided contracts doled out under force of law by bureaucrats.

This is in no way an expose. It’s a cheap game of “gotcha” that hides the sources who fed the Independent a story from agencies it does not routinely cover and intended for nobody other than public officials whom the sites funders hope to move toward their political agenda. That is a far far cry from what independent media do. It is an insult to investigative journalism.