Attorney General Jeff Landry wants Blue Cross to delay sale to Elevance

Officials with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana said this week they are again seeking to postpone a key regulatory hearing on the proposed sale of the Baton Rouge-based nonprofit, raising questions about the trajectory of the $2.5 million sale to one of the country's largest, for-profit insurers, Elevance Health.

While Blue Cross did not specify the length of the delay they are seeking from the Louisiana Department of Insurance, which must approve the deal, any additional delays would, as a practical matter, likely push the approval process into the new year and into the hands of a new administration.

The request comes in the wake of a meeting Monday between Blue Cross officials and Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry, the Republican favorite in the race to succeed Gov. John Bel Edwards.

Landry has previously raised questions about the deal. In a meeting with company brass Monday, he made clear he does not want the sale to go forward until more questions have been answered and until a new governor and insurance commissioner have taken office.

"To make one of the biggest changes in the private insurance healthcare market and not give the people who are going to be tasked with overseeing this a seat at the table, I think, is problematic," Landry said on Wednesday.

Asked if he threatened to sue Blue Cross if officials continued moving forward with the deal, Landry cited a privileged conversation with attorneys who also were at the meeting. But he said his record during the past eight years is an indication of what his office is prepared to do.

"My track record is if we believe there is going to be injury to the consumer or a violation of antitrust policies that we have never shied away from taking legal action," said.

Landry said he met with Blue Cross in his capacity as the attorney general charged with regulating consumer protection in the state, not as the gubernatorial frontrunner.

He said he is not necessarily opposed to the sale in theory but "as it currently stands, it's a bad deal" because there are too many unanswered questions about how it will affect the 92,000 Blue Cross policyholders and 1.9 million people in Louisiana with some form of Blue Cross insurance.

In a statement, Blue Cross officials said "We have heard people would like more time for questions to be addressed. Since we are committed to making sure these questions are addressed, Blue Cross and Elevance are working with the Louisiana Department of Insurance on the best approach to provide more time for the Attorney General and others to understand the benefits of the transaction."

Steps

The Louisiana Department of Insurance could not say what the request from Blue Cross means for the deal. Donelon's Executive Counsel, Dave Caldwell, confirmed the office received a verbal request for an unspecified delay but could not say what the department will do.

The department already granted one request for a delay. In August, following a contentious legislative hearing and a series of concerns raised in an actuarial report by an independent advisor, Blue Cross requested a 45-day delay that pushed the hearing from late August to early October.

Because approval of such a deal requires two separate hearings as well as a public meeting and vote from Blue Cross policyholders, the whole process takes many weeks.

Further complicating matters, Donelon has made clear that he wants to decide the matter before leaving office at the end of the year. If his office denies the request to postpone the hearing, Blue Cross would have to withdraw the application and start the process over again, according to two sources familiar with the situation, who were not authorized to speak on the record.

If that happens, the deal would undoubtedly be pushed into the new year.

According to the terms of its agreement with Elevance, Blue Cross has to finalize the sale by Jan. 24. If it walks away from the deal, it faces a $75 million exit fee.

A Blue Cross spokesperson said the company has no plans to walk away from the deal and that the contract contains provisions that allow for the Jan. 24 deadline to be extended if both companies agree they want to continue working on the transaction.

'Pump the brakes'

First announced in January, Blue Cross executives have said the sale to Elevance, a publicly traded company based in Indiana, will allow the insurer to provide better services and combat ever-rising health care costs.

A growing number of policyholders, doctors, hospitals and political leaders have raised concerns about the effect it would have on customers, and how proceeds from the sale will be divided between Blue Cross policyholders and a social welfare foundation that Blue Cross plans to create and control.

Earlier this week, the Louisiana State Medical Society, which represents some 4,000 doctors across the state, joined the powerful Louisiana Hospital Association in publicly speaking out against the sale and how it will potentially impact payments to doctors and hospitals.

The provider community isn't the only group raising concerns. State lawmakers have scheduled another round of hearings at the capitol next week to discuss the matter. Last month, legislators grilled Blue Cross executives over the terms of the deal for six hours, even though they do not have a say in the approval process.

"We want to pump the brakes on this deal and continue to shine light on it," said Sen. Jeremy Stine, R-Lake Charles, and a member of the Senate Insurance Committee.

Some individual policyholders are also stepping up their opposition. In recent days, local attorney and policyholder Henry "Tut" Kinney has taken out full page ads in The Times-Picayune and The Advocate "to make people aware about the deal," he said.

Another attorney and policyholder has filed a motion to intervene in the approval process.

Donelon's executive counsel has said he fully expects litigation in the case.