Become a Member! (click here) Protecting New Hampshire Residents' Health Insurance Coverage New Hampshire Citizens Alliance (NHCA) has been a leader in NH in protecting the rights of consumers during health care corporate transactions. Recent transactions include the sale of Healthsource-NH to CIGNA, the sale of Matthew Thornton Health Plan to Blue Cross Blue Shield-NH (BCBS-NH) and the sale of BCBS-NH to Anthem, Inc. NHCA intervened in each of these transactions, representing consumers at hearings before the NH Department of Insurance and voicing consumer concerns in Superior Court proceedings and to NH's Attorney General. Through legal intervention, NHCA negotiated regular meetings to discuss issues and concerns with management at CIGNA and Anthem. NHCA has used these meetings to bring people having trouble accessing care to meet face to face with corporate decision-makers. Meetings with CIGNA in 1999 and 2000 yielded immediate improvements in corporate behavior, particularly in the area of mental health services. Meetings with Anthem leaders led to the convening of a large "stakeholders" group to discuss potential long-term improvements to the current health care system. NHCA also successfully pressed the NH Department of Insurance to impose numerous consumer-protection conditions on the sale of BCBS-NH to Anthem, Inc. More than 350,000 enrollees in Anthem health plans have benefited from these provisions. NHCA's careful monitoring of the dissolution of BCBS-NH (NH's last non-profit insurer) supported creation of an $80-million charitable foundation, the Endowment For Health, to continue BCBS-NH's original mission to improve the quality of health of NH citizens. NHCA continues to play a watchdog role in monitoring the commitments that Anthem is required to uphold as part of the sale agreement. If you have experienced difficulties in accessing health care through your Anthem or CIGNA health plan, please contact us at nhca@totalnetnh.net. Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield Demutualization In September 2001, Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield announced plans to "demutualize," which means to convert from a policyholder-owned company to a publicly traded, stockholder-owned company. Anthem is the dominant player in NH's insurance market. Concerned that an increased emphasis on profits could mean higher premiums and/or poorer coverage for NH enrollees, NHCA called on NH Department of Insurance Commissioner Paula T. Rogers to hold a public hearing in NH on the company's demutualization proposal. Despite NHCA's efforts, the only public hearing on the matter was held in Indiana, where Anthem is headquartered. Click here to see NHCA's media release and letter to Commissioner Rogers. On November 2, just days after the Indiana Department of Insurance commissioner approved Anthem's demutualization proposal, Anthem announced that its Initial Public Offering on Wall Street had brought in $2.1 billion.