N.M. Super Quits after Blue Cross Rate Hike
Copyright: | unknown |
Source: | Albuquerque Journal (NM) |
Wordcount: | unknown |
May 5--State Insurance Superintendent Morris Chavez resigned Tuesday, saying it was time to step down but conceding he was stung by personal attacks that erupted over a rate increase granted to Blue Cross and Blue Shield of New Mexico last week.
The criticism included an anonymous letter left on his car calling him a "corrupt Mexican," being accused by a member of the Public Regulation Commission of orchestrating a "backroom deal" and being called a "mobster" for the agency. "After looking at things with my family and considering the accomplishments I think we've had as a division and staff over the last 3 1/2 years, it was time for me to make a decision to go," he told the Journal. "There have been some issues recently with my decision with regard to Blue Cross and some comments made about me which hurt a little bit and which hurt my family.
"That all kind of played into the decision that it was probably time for me to step away from the job."
Chavez, 38, disclosed that among the personal taunts he received last week, an anonymous letter was left on his car that called him a "corrupt Mexican."
Commissioner Jason Marks, who made the "backroom deal" charge, said Tuesday of the resignation, "I think we were ready for a change."
The Public Regulation Commission accepted Chavez's resignation Tuesday morning and appointed the division's chief deputy superintendent, Tom Rushton, as acting superintendent.
Commission chairman David King said Chavez, who was making about $98,400 a year, talked about the possibility of resigning last week.
"There was not any severance package or any kind of agreement," King said. "He has his regular leave and that sort of thing any employee would have."
Some PRC pressure
King acknowledged that some commissioners might have thought Chavez wasn't heeding some of their concerns, but "I think, overall, he's been a good superintendent."
Marks, who was highly critical of the Blue Cross rate increase and the Insurance Division's handling of the case, said, "...We've got to change our orientation on these health care rate increases. They have got to be more skeptical and make sure when we are getting these big increases filed here that they're justified."
Chavez, an Albuquerque attorney, was hired in October 2006. At the time, he was the youngest insurance superintendent in the United States. He succeeded Eric Serna, who retired in May of that year after disclosures that a government contractor had contributed $129,000 to a charity that had been headed by Serna. He was never charged with a crime.
The Blue Cross issue surfaced just as Chavez returned to work after being put on paid leave Jan. 28 during an investigation into an undisclosed personnel issue. He was cleared of any wrongdoing and reinstated March 8.
The Insurance Division staff approved a rate increase averaging about 24.6 percent for Blue Cross in December. When insurance holders got wind of it, they bombarded the PRC with complaints and Chavez was ordered by the commission to hold a hearing.
Moments before the hearing was to start last week, he announced that a settlement had been reached among the parties in the case, including the Attorney General's Office. It granted Blue Cross an average 21.3 percent increase for individual health insurance plans. Marks, who was at the hearing, said the PRC sought a public "vetting" of the issue and instead got a "backroom deal."
Chavez, who filed an order granting the increase proposed in the settlement, defended his handling of the case.
"The decision on Blue Cross was difficult, but it was based on the law," he said Tuesday. "It was an agreement brought to me by the Attorney General's Office, the leading consumer advocate for the state. There was a consumer affected (who) signed off on the deal. When it was presented to me, I immediately saw the savings it would bring New Mexicans."
Chavez said some of his own family members criticized him. There were also many e-mails and blogs, in addition to the letter left on his car. "One blog I read said I was a mobster for the PRC," he said.
"Those things hurt," he said. "I'm going to be getting married soon. I've got a young stepson, 8 years old. I don't want him to read that. I don't want him to hear that, especially when it's untrue."
'Up-and-up guy'
Chavez said he is proud of his record, saying morale in the division has come a "long way." He cited as one of his biggest accomplishments a bill passed by the Legislature a couple of years ago that limited health insurance companies' ability to rescind insurance coverage.
He said New Mexico was one of the first states to enact the measure, and the federal health reform bill has a similar provision.
Anne Sperling, employee benefits manager for Daniels Insurance Agency who also has served on many state task forces dealing with health reform, said she was disappointed to hear of Chavez's resignation. She called him an "up-and-up guy" who understood two key issues: ensuring insurers are able to stay solvent and having a "strong heart for the consumer."
"He tried to act as fairly as he could possibly do in the position he was in," she said.
Chavez said he likely will go into private law practice. He also will have to look for a health insurance plan.
"I'll be facing the reality many New Mexicans are with regard to that," he said.
To see more of the Albuquerque Journal, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.abqjournal.com.
Copyright (c) 2010, Albuquerque Journal, N.M.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
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