BATON ROUGE, La. (BRA PROUD) – A New Orleans lawyer has filed a federal lawsuit seeking to stop the sale of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Louisiana.
Henry Kinney has filed a lawsuit against current Insurance Commissioner Tim Temple and the state of Louisiana, seeking an appeals process, according to court documents.
Kinney said that around February 2023, BCBSLA board members will sell the company to Elevance Health and transfer the proceeds to the Accelerate Louisiana Initiative, a nonprofit organization established by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Louisiana. I found out that I had voted for it. The company planned to sell BCBSLA to a for-profit corporation and donate most of the proceeds to the established organization, according to the documents. The Accelerate Louisiana Initiative was located in Delaware.
The “demutualization” plan was filed with the Louisiana Department of Insurance in late January 2023. The complaint alleges that shortly after its filing, the Insurance Commissioner (then Jim Donnellon) met with BCBSLA directors multiple times. . That member is reportedly the president of the Accelerate Louisiana Initiative.
The lawsuit also alleges that Kinney learned from reviewing the plans that the BCBSLA buyers could intervene in the hearing without restriction. Plan approval criteria should have limited the plan’s impact on members and policyholders.
Mr. Kinney is seeking declaratory relief, arguing that the Department of Health’s actions violate the Constitution and due process.
The trial is scheduled for Wednesday, February 14th.
Read the full lawsuit below.
