Blue Cross, Highmark paying agency's advisers

0 Comments | Philadelphia Inquirer, The, June, 2008 | by Jane M. Von Bergen Inquirer Staff Writer

A hearing on the proposed Independence Blue Cross and Highmark Inc. merger took an unexpected twist in Harrisburg yesterday. Instead of focusing on the merger, which would create the largest health insurer in the state, it was all about how much the Insurance Department's consultants were being paid - and, more surprising, who was paying them.

Independence Blue Cross, of Philadelphia, and Highmark, of Pittsburgh, are not only paying for their own consultants, but are also footing the bill for the department's consultants. The Insurance Department will decide on the merger. State Sen. Donald White, who called the hearing, said he was confused by the payment arrangement. "This is almost like the fox guarding the chicken coop," said White, a Republican, who is chairman of the...