Premera Blue Cross

Premera Blue Cross is a not-for-profit Blue Cross Blue Shield licensed health insurance company based in Mountlake Terrace, Washington, United States. It sells health insurance plans under the Blue Cross license in Washington state except Clark County and under both of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield licenses in Alaska.

Premera Blue Cross
Not-for-profit organization
IndustryHealth Insurance
PredecessorWashington Hospital Service, Medical Service Corporation, Blue Cross of Washington and Alaska
Founded1945
HeadquartersMountlake Terrace, Washington, United States
Area served
Primarily Alaska, Oregon and Washington
ProductsHealth Insurance
Number of employees
3,200
ParentBlue Cross Blue Shield Association
SubsidiariesLifeWise of Oregon
LifeWise of Washington
LifeWise Assurance Company
Calypso Healthcare Solutions
Vivacity
Connexion Insurance (formally Ucentris)
Websitewww.premera.com

The company provides health insurance and related services to approximately 2 million people. Premera Blue Cross has operated in Washington since 1933, and in Alaska since 1957. Premera Blue Cross is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association.[1]

History

Premera was founded as Washington Hospital Service on May 5, 1945, and began operating in Alaska in 1957. On March 14, 1969, the company's name was changed to Blue Cross of Washington and Alaska.[2]

In 1994, Blue Cross of Washington and Alaska affiliated with Spokane's Medical Service Corporation, which had been founded in November 1933. In June 1998, the two organizations merged under the name Premera Blue Cross.

In 2002, Premera's executives first informed Washington commissioner Mike Kreidler of their intent to convert from a non-profit to a for-profit joint-stock company.[3] After five years, the request was officially ended on March 5, 2007.[4]

In October 2009, Premera waived deductible or co-pay for 2009-H1N1 vaccine fees for its fully insured members.[5]

In October 2014, Jeff Roe replaced Gubby Barlow as CEO of Premera.[6]

On May 5, 2015, Premera experienced a security breach, possibly leaking the private information of 11 million of its members. [7]

On July 11, 2019, Premera reached a settlement to pay $10.4 million over its failure to secure sensitive consumer data following the breach in 2015.[8]

In response to the COVID-19 crisis in 2020, Premera has offered advance payments to health care providers amounting up to $100 million.[9]

Board of directors

As of 2019, the board[10] according to the NAIC Quarterly Statement included:[11]

Articles of incorporation

The articles of incorporation are accessible online, with the original filing for Premera Blue Cross occurring in 1945 and the original filing for Premera occurring in 1994.[13]

Regulation, lawsuits, and investigative journalism

The Seattle Times published an article on Feb 9, 2012, alleging non-profit insurance outfits, including Regence, Premera and Group Health, are stockpiling billions of dollars in reserves while increasing their rates at the same time.[14]

In 2002, it attempted to convert to a for-profit,[15] but the proposal was ultimately rejected.[16]

References
  1. "About Premera".
  2. "The Premera Blue Cross Story". Premera Blue Cross. Retrieved 2009-11-11.
  3. "State rejects Premera Blue Cross' for-profit plan | The Seattle Times". archive.seattletimes.com. Retrieved 2020-04-27.
  4. "Premera Blue Cross abandons quest to switch to for-profit status". The Seattle Times. 2007-03-05. Retrieved 2020-04-27.
  5. Premera Blue Cross (2009-09-16). "Premera Eliminates Member Costs for H1N1 Vaccine". BusinessWire.
  6. Helm, Leslie (February 2015). "Seattle Business Magazine". Seattle Business Magazine.
  7. Krebs on Security (2015-03-18). "Premera Blue Cross Breach Exposes Financial, Medical Records". KrebsonSecurity.
  8. "Premera Blue Cross settles state data breach investigations for $10 million". CyberScoop. 2019-07-12. Retrieved 2019-07-25.
  9. Cross, Premera Blue (2020-04-08). "Premera Blue Cross offers advance payments to health care providers in response to COVID-19 crisis". GlobeNewswire News Room. Retrieved 2020-04-10.
  10. "Premera Blue Cross: Board of Directors - Bloomberg". www.bloomberg.com. Retrieved 2019-06-15.
  11. "Quarterly Statement of the Condition and Affairs of Premera Blue Cross". fortress.wa.gov. Retrieved 2019-06-15.
  12. "John E. Jenrette, MD". Cedars-Sinai. Retrieved 2019-06-15.
  13. Search https://ccfs.sos.wa.gov/#/BusinessSearch/BusinessFilings for Premera, then click the "Filing History" button.
  14. Ostrom, Carol M. (February 8, 2012). "3 Big Health Insurers Stockpile $2.4 Billion As Rates Keep Rising". The Seattle Times.
  15. "Conversion and Preservation of Charitable Assets of Blue Cross and Blue Shield Plans: How States Have Protected or Failed to Protect the Public Interest" (PDF). Community Catalyst. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2016-12-09.
  16. "Premera v. Kreidler, 131 P.3d 930 – CourtListener.com". CourtListener. Retrieved 2019-06-15.
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