Premera Watch Coalition
Premera for People Not Premera for-profit

Blue Cross Conversion FAQ
RESOURCES
Blue Cross Conversion FAQ
Report:
The Role of Executive Compensation in Health Care Conversions
Report:
Are Conversions Bad Medicine?
Fact Sheet:
Tangled Up In Blue
Fact Sheet:
Corporate Accountability
Fact Sheet:
Background on the Premera Conversion Hearing
Questions and Answers on the Premera Blue Cross Conversion

What was Premera proposing?

On May 31, 2002, Premera Blue Cross announced its plan to convert from nonprofit to for-profit status. This would have allowed Premera to sell shares on the stock market like other publicly traded companies. In order to convert, Premera needed to obtain approval from Insurance Commissioner Kreidler and Attorney General Gregoire, in addition to Alaska regulators.

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How would Premera’s conversion have affected health care in Washington?

It was not completely known what impact the conversion would have had on access to health care. The Premera Watch Coalition was very concerned that the loss of a major non-profit insurer would result in reduced participation in the individual market, public health care programs such as Medicaid and Basic Health, and the abandonment of the less lucrative rural market. The proposed change in status would also have resulted in increased premium rates and reduced benefit packages. The documents that Premera filed with the Insurance Commissioner did not directly address these health access concerns.

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How would Premera’s conversion have affected the non-profit health care assets Premera currently holds?

The Premera Watch Coalition was concerned that the conversion of Premera presented a grave risk to the non-profit assets held by Premera, worth as much as $2 billion or more. Premera’s charter and state law specify that upon conversion, all non-profit assets must be transferred to another non-profit entity. However, the PremeraWatch Coalition believed that Premera’s proposal would permit a new for-profit Premera to continue controlling the non-profit assets and result in the loss of potentially millions of non-profit health care dollars.

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What is the Premera Watch Coalition?

The Premera Watch Coalition is a coalition of consumer and provider groups that formed to monitor and analyze Premera’s conversion plans. Members of the coalition have petitioned to intervene in the administrative hearing before the Insurance Commissioner. After analyzing the documents Premera filed with Insurance Commissioner, the Premera Watch Coalition concluded that the conversion of Premera would not be in the public interest and should not be approved. The coalition is currently awaiting intervenor status to move forward its opposition to the proposed conversion.

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What organizations make up the Premera Watch Coalition?

The Premera Watch Coalition includes the following organizations: Children’s Alliance, Northwest Federation of Community Organizations, Northwest Health Law Advocates, Service Employees International Union State Council, Washington Academy of Family Physicians, Washington Association of Churches, Washington Citizen Action, Washington Protection and Advocacy System, Washington State NOW, and Welfare Rights Organizing Coalition.

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