What local insurance brokers are saying about the pending Blue Cross sale - Greater Baton Rouge Business Report

(File photo)

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For local insurance professionals, news that Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana had made a deal to be acquired by Elevance Health may have been surprising, but not necessarily shocking. 

“There’s been a lot of consolidation in the industry,” notes Zack Stafford with Lockton, who was nonetheless surprised the news didn’t leak sooner. “Usually, information like that gets out early.”

Stafford says Louisiana Blue becoming the 15th state plan for Elevance, which does business as Anthem, could boost investment and technology for the local insurer. Large, self-funded groups could save money on fees paid to access provider networks in other states, he says. 

But there are concerns about moving from Blue Cross, a nonprofit, to a publicly traded for-profit company that has to worry about its stock price. 

“My fear for the fully insured business is that those rates will ultimately go up,” Stafford says. 

He’s also concerned that some of Blue Cross’ 3,000 or so Louisiana employees will be let go in the name of efficiency. Company officials say the deal will not spur layoffs or office closures, and CEO Steven Udvarhelyi says he expects to maintain current employment levels for at least the first two years. 

“Wow, I didn’t expect this,” Kerry Drake with Cadence Insurance recalls thinking. “But knowing the health care landscape, probably not shocking.” 

Drake also says the larger company’s resources could benefit large self-funded groups, but he worries about the impact on rates for groups with 100 or fewer members. He says other brokers report that Anthem/Elevance gives its successful subsidiaries the freedom to run the business.

“Louisiana Blue is an incredibly successful business,” says Morgan Kendrick, the Elevance executive who oversees the company’s Blue plans. “The objective with all of the plans is to maintain the autonomy locally as far as decision-making, running the business and serving the customers.” 

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What local insurance brokers are saying about the pending Blue Cross sale - Greater Baton Rouge Business Report
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