Advocates call for hearing about Geisinger-Risant insurance condition change request

Scranton, Pa. — Watchdog groups are asking for a hearing about a change Geisinger-Risant hopes to make concerning its insurance.

Progressive nonprofit Action Together NEPA and healthcare union SEIU Healthcare PA have issued a call for a public hearing about Geisinger-Risant's "request for modification" of its insurance conditions. The request was submitted to the Pa. Insurance Department on Jan. 16.

The filing asked to reduce Geisinger-Risant's risk-based capital requirement, which would drop the amount that the insurance companies are required to hold in reserve.

The coalition has issued three requests for the Pa. Insurance Department regarding Geisinger-Risant:

Host a public hearing to ensure transparency about the request for modificationEnsure that Kaiser Permanente uses its $82 billion in net worth to freeze health insurance costs for Pennsylvanians who are struggling to afford careObtain details on how Geisinger-Risant will use the $100 million it would gain access to through the modification (if approved)

According to the coalition, a cost freeze would help fulfill Kaiser's commitment to invest $2 billion locally when it acquired Geisinger through Risant in 2024 while protecting health and economic security for residents of Northeast Pa.

"Our request to the Pennsylvania Insurance Department is clear: we need transparency, clarity, and accountability from Geisinger-Risant and Kaiser, and we need a freeze on healthcare costs for the hardworking residents of Northeast Pennsylvania," said Alisha Hoffman-Mirilovich, executive director of Action Together NEPA. "In the past decade, we've seen insurance and healthcare corporations become much bigger and more powerful, gaining a greater and greater ability to drive up prices. Working people are suffering right now, and the Insurance Department should step up to make sure that these huge corporations are using their vast resources to hold down costs, not continue raising them."

Request for modification

Geisinger-Risant's request for modification to the Insurance Department, comments from Action Together NEPA and SEIU Healthcare PA, and Geisinger-Risant's response letter are available to read here.

As a condition of approving Kaiser's original takeover of Geisinger through Risant, the Insurance Department required Geisinger Health Plan to maintain risk-based capital of at least 350% and Geisinger Indemnity Insurance Co. and Geisinger Quality Options to maintain risk-based capital of at least 400% for five years. The corporations then have to maintain at least 350% until 2039.

Geisinger's modification request asks for all three insurance corporations to maintain a risk-based capital level of 300%, unlocking access to $100 million.

The argument for an insurance premium freeze

Coalition members assert that Geisinger-Risant and Kaiser have more than enough resources to freeze clients' insurance costs. Geisinger reported $9 billion in revenue, $47 million in profits, and $4.8 billion in net assets in 2025. Kaiser reported $127 billion in revenue, $9.3 billion in profits, and $82 billion in net assets in 2025.

The coalition further claims that the corporations in question have used their profits to lavish huge compensation packages on top executives. According to a ProPublica report, when the CEO of Geisinger transitioned to become CEO of Risant, he had total compensation of over $14.2 million in 2024. Kaiser's CEO had a total compensation of $12.9 million in the same year.

"While executives have been raking in massive profits and pay, working people in Northeast Pa., where Geisinger-Risant is concentrated, have been hit hard by rising healthcare costs. According to a report, 80% of Northeastern and North Central Pa. residents are worried about affording healthcare; 53% have gone without care due to cost; and 33% incurred medical debt, depleted savings, and/or sacrificed basic needs due to medical bills," a statement from the coalition reads.

Geisinger, Risant, and Kaiser each hold nonprofit statuses and are exempt from paying property taxes to local communities.

Nationally, insurance premiums have jumped 223% from 2000-2020, with real wages only growing 15% from 1979-2022. Americans pay an average of $6,850 for family healthcare premiums annually, with many paying much more. Geisinger Health Plan and Geisinger Quality Options have likewise seen rising insurance premiums, including an over 50% increase to individual plans under the Affordable Care Act from 2023-2026.

Coalition members say that it is more important than ever before to freeze health insurance costs because nearly 600,000 Pa. residents could lose healthcare coverage due to federal cuts in Medicaid and Affordable Care Act funding.

The coalition described the rise in healthcare costs as being driven largely by insurance and healthcare corporations' focus on profits and consolidation, increasing their market power. The Scranton-Wilkes Barre metro area, which has the largest population in Northeast Pa., is the most consolidated health insurance market in the Commonwealth.

Circling back to Geisinger-Risant's request for modification, the coalition expressed concerns that the corporation could use the $100 million in additional funds to further consolidate its market power and keep increasing prices.

"As a nurse, I want to make sure both my community and all my fellow healthcare workers have access to affordable care so we can be there for our patients," said James Taylor, a registered nurse at Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center in Wilkes-Barre. "I see firsthand every day how our patient population needs more care, but is struggling to afford that care. I also see the sad irony of Geisinger employees coming to work every day to provide care to others, but having a tough time affording care for themselves and their families. The Pa. Insurance Department needs to hold Geisinger-Risant and Kaiser accountable to freeze health insurance costs, so that patients and those of us who care for them have affordable care."