P-I columnists tear into new Regence Blueshield president

Seattle Post-Intelligencer guest columnists Martha Scoville and Nate Rozeboom tear in Jonathan Hensley, the new president of the Washington health insurance company Regence BlueShield.

Scoville, a Regence policy holder, and Rozeboom, a registered nurse at Harborview Medical Center, want to know why the insurer, which they say has a surplus close to $1 billion, continues to raise rates on individuals seeking coverage.

They want to know: How many claims the insurer has denied in the past five years, how many people have been rejected for coverage in the past five years, and what are the compensation packages for their top five corporate executives.

Scoville and Rozeboom sent a Hensley a list of such questions, but, they allege, he gave them “the runaround.” 

Regence BlueShield has not yet issued a response to Scoville and Rozeboom’s piece but has made available a copy of their “demands” and Hensley’s response.

Scoville and Rozeboom have joined the advocacy group Health Care for America Now, which has formed a “Health Care Truth Squad” to hound the insurers to get answers to these and other questions.

To learn more:

• Read Scoville and Rozeboom’s op-ed piece in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer
• Visit the Health Care for America Now Coalition website.
• Visit the Coalition’s Washington member: the Washington Community Action Network   
• Visit Washington Regence BlueShield’s website

Tags: BlueShield, Coverage, Health Insurance, Regence

Category: Health-care Policy, Insurance