According to the Inquirer article, Philadelphia-based Independence Blue Cross and Pittsburgh-based Highmark “are not only paying for their own consultants, but are also footing the bill for the department’s consultants,” a revelation that has raised questions in the state legislature.
“This is almost like the fox guarding the chicken coop,” state Sen. Donald White (R), chairman of the Senate’s Insurance and Banking Committee, is quoted as saying. “I don’t understand how we get an objective opinion when the burden is being paid by the parties that have a vested interest in this.”
The merger, if approved by the state Insurance Department, would create the largest health insurer in Pennsylvania. Read the full story here.
