Health Affairs--July/August 2004
The attempted
for-profit conversion of CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield culminated in
two decades of drift from its nonprofit mission and opened a window
of opportunity forMaryland to deny the proposal,
replace the board majority, and impose oversight. Maryland rejected the
approach used by some states, which have permitted conversion and
used the erstwhile nonprofit’s assets to endow a health-related
foundation, because it sought an insurer with dominant market share
to promote coverage expansions. Coupled with the ensuing conflict
with insurance commissioners and nearby Blues plans, this incident
signals the end of the "trust-me" era of nonprofit accountability in
health insurance.
