Battle Against Regence Rate Increase Continues

Attorney files legal exception setting stage for battle in Court of Appeals
By: 
David Rosenfeld

July 23, 2009 --  Advocates are just getting started on their year-long fight against state regulators who approved a 26 percent rate hike on individual policyholders of Regence BlueCross BlueShield last July. 

 
Charlie Ringo, an attorney and former Oregon senator, filed an exception to an administrative law judge's decision last month on behalf of Karen Kirsch. 
 
The two-page document sets the stage for proceedings in the Court of Appeals. And the consequences are by no means minor. Ringo intends to further challenge the decision reached by Cory Streisinger, director of the Department of Consumer and Business Services.
 
During the hearing in February, Ringo alleged Streisinger succumbed to lobbying pressure by Regence executives.
 
According to Ringo, the decision made by the law judge, Alison Greene Webster, in favor of the state "makes no mention of the department’s refusal to comply with subpoenas served on Cory Streisinger and Carl Lundberg (former acting administrator),” based on the document.
 
Leading up to the hearing, Webster tried to compel Streisinger and Lundberg to testify. But attorneys at the Department of Justice said the two did not have to comply because they made the final decision.
 
Ringo said it felt like a kangaroo court. And Stresinger refused interview requests to answer the allegations because the case was ongoing.
 
“This willful suppression of evidence,” the exception reads, “should have raised presumptions against the department in its conduct of the rate review process. Moreover, the department’s failure to comply with these subpoenas violates petitioner’s due process rights."
 
In a separate interview, Ringo said: “One of the aspects of this challenge is we are not analyzing the underlying data to see whether the premiums are reasonable or not. We’re looking at the process. We don’t have the data or the expertise to do that."
 
Similar problems will not occur in the future, according to Teresa Miller, administrator of the Insurance Division. Starting next year, state regulators will have a new way of examining insurance premiums with greater scrutiny.
 
But Ringo questionned whether this new legislation will actually lead to  meaningful reform. “I’m not clear what the impact of the new statute will be. For one thing, it includes the word discretion.”

Take Action

See related article about new regulations.

To get involved in the rulemaking process occuring November or December in Salem, contact Sue Monson at 503-647-7272. Ask about administrative rule number 836 called Health Insurance Public Review and Confidentiality of Filing Documents.

To review health insurance rate filings click here.
 
To request an external review (anyone can do it) contact an insurance advocate toll free at 1-888-877-4894 or e-mail: cp.ins@state.or.us.
 
See related stories on insurers' financials see here and here, as well as full reports by state regulators here.
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