Today, the Louisiana Department of Insurance was supposed to begin two days of hearings regarding the sale of the state's largest health insurance company, Blue Cross/Blue Shield, to Elevance Health.
However, LDI announced this morning that the deal is off and Blue Cross is no longer seeking approval to partner with Elevance.
No word on what Blue Cross will do next.
Louisiana Department of Insurance Deputy Commissioner of Public Affairs John Ford released a statement.
"Late yesterday evening, Blue Cross notified the LDI that it has chosen to withdraw its Plan of Reorganization. The hearing scheduled for today and tomorrow is therefore canceled, and I currently have no information regarding Blue Cross' intentions moving forward."
BCBS released the following statement:
Since we announced our intent to be acquired by Elevance Health last year, it has become abundantly clear that the work we do each day is not only appreciated by our members, providers, group leaders and broker partners, it is highly valued.
We continue to hear from our stakeholders that they want Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana to remain their trusted partner in their healthcare journey, and we pursued this transaction to help us do exactly that - by changing for the better. However, it is clear that our stakeholders need more time and information to understand the benefits of the changes we have proposed. This is why we have decided to again pause the process in our proposed transaction with Elevance Health. This means that we are withdrawing our filing with the Louisiana Department of Insurance. We are also cancelling the policyholder proxy and vote process, including the special policyholder meeting that was scheduled for Feb. 21.
We know that change is hard, even when change is made for the right reasons. We continue to believe we need a strong partner to help position us for a vibrant future, and to help us make healthcare more affordable and to help us do more to improve the health of members and policyholders. However, now is not the right time to make this bold step.
BCBSLA remains focused on serving our customers and remaining the healthcare partner of choice in Louisiana for the next 90 years and beyond.
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