March 26th, 2010
In an op-ed for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette today, David Balto, a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress and a former policy director of the Federal Trade Commission, writes:
“If there is one clear truth from the yearlong health care debate in Washington, it is that health insurance markets are broken. Most are dominated by a single insurer, which has resulted in escalating premiums, skyrocketing profits and record numbers of uninsured. Few states have the resolve or resources to take on these monopolies.
Here in Pennsylvania, Insurance Commissioner Joel Ario has been investigating the conduct of the state’s four Blue Cross Blue Shield plans, seeking to identify anticompetitive practices and repair our broken health insurance market. But as he was poised to expose their practices, Highmark, the insurance monopolist in Western Pennsylvania, sued, claiming that the department was unlawfully exceeding its investigative authority.
This act of chutzpah should be rejected by the courts and Mr. Ario should be permitted to do his job.
One can imagine why Highmark feels threatened: No monopolist likes competition, especially one that has divvied up a state so cozily with associated companies. And no monopolist wants its anticompetitive designs exposed to the light of day.
In Pennsylvania, the four “Blues” — Highmark, Independence Blue Cross, Blue Cross of Northeastern Pennsylvania and Harrisburg’s Capital BlueCross — dominate the market. Two years ago, when there was a threat that competition might break out between IBC and Highmark, they proposed a merger to avoid it. The U.S. Department of Justice gave the plan its blessing, but Mr. Ario said no.”
Read the rest of the op-ed: http://www.postgazette.com/pg/10085/1045709-109.stm#ixzz0jIEwnV2p
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