I am writing today to announce the closure of the New Mexico Independent. After three and a half years of operation in New Mexico, the board of the American Independent News Network, has decided to shift publication of its news…
While environmental activists played their part yesterday during demonstrations at the capitol building, going so far as to dress up as solar panels and to sing the tune of “You Are My Sunshine,” their counterparts, the anti-cap-and-trade contingency who has…
Roughly one quarter of University of New Mexico students are unimpressed with the state’s flagship public school, according to a survey that questioned college students about their higher education experiences.
The Attorney General’s office cannot say whether or not it received all of the financial records it demanded from Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Mexico before signing off on a controversial April 26 rate hike settlement, according to spokesman Phillip Sisneros.
The company did not disclose financial records to the PRC Insurance Division supporting figures in its rate hike application, The Independent reported.
The AG’s office demanded such records during rate hike settlement talks.
But they “are not public records,” according to AG spokesman Phillip Sisneros. And that prevents him from confirming whether or not all of the records the AG demanded of the company were actually disclosed before a 21.3 percent rate hike settlement was signed, Sisneros said.
“(U)nfortunately, I can not confirm which ones were received,” Sisneros told The Independent.
The company should have submitted supporting financial documents to the Insurance Division, according to Allan Schwartz, an independent health insurance rates expert hired by the AG to review Blue Cross Blue Shield NM records.
The Division does not require insurers to provide any proof of claimed losses and other figures in rate filings, company officials responded.
But the AG specifically requested financial records, testimony filed in the case docket file shows.
“BCBSNM produced to the Attorney General all of the documents he asked for in his discovery,” Blue Cross Blue Shield spokeswoman Becky Kenny told The Independent via email.
But Schwartz testified March 2 and April 9 that the insurer had not disclosed requested financial documents, and The Independent’s review of the PRC case docket revealed no certificates of service for Blue Cross Blue Shield disclosures after April 9.
“Blue Cross legally would have been required to serve discovery (documents) on all parties in the settlement,” PRC Commissioner Jason Marks told The Independent. “From what I can gather, the decision to settle was not based on additional data coming in. Nobody told me they changed their minds after they saw additional data.”
Kenny has not responded to requests for clarification. Asked to confirm Kenny’s claim, Sisneros initially told The Independent only, “Yes, we did receive docs in discovery.”
But Sisneros refused to state whether or not all requested documents were received, or to specify which documents were received.
The Insurance Division has approved Blue Cross Blue Shield New Mexico rate hikes every year since 2004, without requiring supporting documentation of the expense and loss figures, The Independent reported last month.
