New Orleans attorney files lawsuit against insurance commissioner; hopes to block sale of Blue Cross Blue Shield

BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) — A New Orleans attorney has filed a federal lawsuit to attempt to block the sale of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Louisiana.

According to court documents, Henry Kinney filed a lawsuit against current Commissioner of Insurance Tim Temple and the State of Louisiana for the process of appeal.

Around February 2023, Kinney learned BCBSLA board members voted to sell the company to Elevance Health and transfer the funds to a nonprofit organization, Accelerate Louisiana Initiative, which Blue Cross Blue Shield of Louisiana created. The company planned to sell BCBSLA to a for-profit stock company and give the majority of its earnings to the created organization, documents state. The Accelerate Louisiana Initiative was located in Delaware.

The plan to "demutualize" was submitted to the Louisiana Department of Insurance in late January 2023. The lawsuit alleges that shortly after the submission, the Insurance Commissioner, who was Jim Donelon at the time, met with a board member of BCBSLA on multiple occasions. That member is reportedly the president of The Accelerate Louisiana Initiative.

The lawsuit also alleges, that after reviewing the plan, Kinney learned that the buyer of BCBSLA was allowed to intervene in the public hearing without restrictions. The standards for approval of the plan should have limited the effect the plan had on members and policyholders.

Kinney is seeking declaratory relief that the actions of the Department of Insurance were violating the Constitution and due process.

A trial is scheduled for Wednesday, Feb. 14.

Read the full lawsuit below.

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