Standard Joined Regence Against Ballot Measures

March 4, 2010 – Regence BlueCross BlueShield wasn’t the only insurer that made a financial contribution to try and defeat Ballot Measures 66 and 67.

 

The Standard, better known as Standard Insurance, gave $35,000 to the losing campaign, according to records accumulated by Common Cause. Standard sells dental, vision, life and disability policies.

 

It contributed $15,000 to the Portland Business Alliance PAC between July 21, 2009 and Jan. 26, 2010, and another $20,000 to the Oregon Associated Industries PAC during the same time period.

 

Starting in 2008, Standard Insurance began offering short- and long-term disability policies to state workers in Oregon, who must self-pay for coverage, through the Public Employees’ Benefit Board. The insurance is not offered to seasonal or intermittent employees.

 

Regence, meanwhile, contributed $50,000 to the Portland Business Alliance and $20,000 to the Oregon Associated Industries PAC, which in turn contributed to the opposition campaign, as we reported in January.

 

Unlike Regence, which is incorporated as a taxable 501(m) nonprofit, StanCorp Financial Group, Inc., is a for-profit investor-owned entity and has to pay additional taxes with the passage of Ballot Measure 67. Its stock, which appears on the New York Stock Exchange, closed at $45.04 on March 3.

 

Measure 66 raises personal income taxes by 1.8 percent on earnings above $125,000 per individual, whereas Measure 67 established a minimum tax of $150 for most businesses and raised the tax rates on corporation profits by 1.3 percent.