January 14th, 2009

In the latest installment of the newspaper’s week-long series on the Pennsylvania Blues, the Times-Tribune today expands on its examination of the Blues’ surplus building.

Write Daniel Axelrod:

“Nearly four years after the state set maximum ranges for Blue Cross and Blue Shield companies’ surpluses, critics still complain the savings are excessive and the insurers have too much leeway to grow them.

The old debate has grown louder because the four nonprofit Blues’ combined surpluses increased roughly 57 percent to $6.2 billion between 2003 and 2007, spurred by strong stock market gains.

As the surpluses have grown, insurance rates skyrocketed and 87,731 people — more than one in 10 residents in seven Northeast Pennsylvania counties — are uninsured.”

…

“Department officials contend they don’t need to reanalyze the Blues’ reasoning for the surpluses, because they reviewed decades of underwriting data to create an unprecedented, long-lasting regulatory framework.

“No other state insurance department has taken on the risk and done the analysis on surpluses quite like we have,” said Steve Johnson, a deputy commissioner with the state Insurance Department.”

Read much more at the Times-Tribune.