Share
RALEIGH Rep. Pricey Harrison has asked the state's attorney general and Department of Insurance to investigate Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina's use of campaign-style tactics aimed at defeating controversial federal health insurance legislation.
The Greensboro Democrat wants to know whether the insurer violated the state's do-not-call registry law with an automated message in late October. And she questions whether it is proper for the insurer to use money garnered from premiums to pay for the calls and two recent pieces of direct mail.
"I have heard from a number of constituents who were really upset about the postcard campaign," Harrison said Thursday. "There are a lot of angry taxpayers, policyholders and state employees."
Harrison has been a strong backer of the state's do-not-call registry and said people on that registry, such as herself, were receiving the calls. That law typically prevents companies from calling and soliciting new customers or donations.
"These aren't solicitation calls. We're not soliciting anything," said Lew Borman, a spokesman for the insurer. Households that received the calls were drawn from voter registration rolls. There is an exemption in the law for political activity.
Blue Cross Blue Shield is the state's largest insurer with more than 3.7 million members.
Borman said the company does not oppose all health insurance reform efforts under way.
But the company does believe that creating a public health insurance option - a mechanism by which a federally subsidized plan would compete with the private insurance market - would drive up costs for companies and premiums for those who are insured.
"Our folks think we have a responsibility to be involved," Borman said. "After all, who knows more about this stuff and how it works and what impacts changes could have than we do?"
The mailers in question included a postcard that could be mailed to U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan, a Democrat urging her to oppose the public option. Hagan said recently that she supported the public option contemplated by Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada.
