Regence Faces Legal Action from LifeWise Assurance Company

April 18, 2012 – Regence Life and Health Insurance Company could find itself in federal court after changing its corporate name to LifeMap Assurance Company.

The for-profit company is part of Cambia Health Solutions, the parent company of Regence BlueCross BlueShield of Oregon. It sells dental, vision, disability and short-term medical insurance, and is led by William Barr, CEO.

Four days after Regence announced its new name, LifeWise Assurance Company filed a complaint in U.S. District Court in Western Washington, contending that Regence had engaged in unfair and deceptive trade practices “that adversely affect the public interest.”

Regence is trying to “create confusion in the market place for health insurance products and services and to piggyback and get a free ride on the substantial goodwill” of LifeWise, according to the complaint filed on April 4 by its attorneys, K&L Gates LLP, who called Regence’s conduct “willful, intentional, deliberate and malicious.”

The court is now awaiting a response to a summons issued to Regence on April 6, according to Mary Duett, case administrator for District Court Judge Marsha J. Pechman. If the parties cannot reach agreement, a jury trial is at least a year away, she confirmed.

Regence officials declined comment for this article. LifeWise officials couldn’t discuss the legal action, “due to the ongoing nature of this dispute,” said its spokesperson Amy Carter.

According to the complaint, which was obtained by The Lund Report, the new corporate and brand names used by Regence “represent an obvious and intentional copy of the LifeWise Assurance Company and LifeWise servicemarks.”

Confusion and disruption could occur among health insurance brokers, purchasers and consumers in Washington and Oregon because of Regence’s actions, the complaint reads. The complaint also says that Regence is attempting to mislead people after changing its name to LifeMap, saying the company has been around for decades, which isn’t true.

“LifeMap has a long history of helping people choose the right insurance products for all of its life’s transition,” according to the Regence promotional. “Beginning in 1964 as an ancillary offset of a major medical plan, LifeMap began to fill in the gaps of an employer’s benefit package. Through the years our product offers have grown and
will continue to pursue our mission to provide high quality products for all of life’s transitions. Our goal is to provide those products that help provide financial security for our customers, wherever this is a potential need for the kind of financial security that allows them to live life to its fullest.”

A for-profit health plan, LifeWise says it’s spent nearly $4 million in Washington and a similar amount in Oregon to promote its products between 2009 and 2011, and recently launched new marketing campaigns in both states.

LifeWise has approximately 108,487 members in Washington and increased its membership by 13 percent in the past year, while its membership in Oregon is much smaller, with 22,397 members.