NU Online News Service, Jan. 4, 4:03 p.m. – The Maine Bureau of Insurance says a Maine state appeals court has affirmed its decision to approve the acquisition of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Maine by a unit of Anthem Inc., Indianapolis, in 2000.
Before the bureau approved the acquisition, it determined that the value of Maine Blue was $81.6 million, or about $185 for each of its 440,000 members. The Maine attorney general and Consumers for Affordable Health Care, Augusta, Maine, a nonprofit consumer group, appealed the approval, arguing that the valuation was too low.
Maine insurance regulators argued the valuation was low because Maine Blue was facing difficult business conditions.
Alessandro Iuppa, Maine insurance superintendent, issued a statement calling the Maine Blue decision one of the most important and difficult decisions he has had to make as superintendent.
"We are extremely that the court agreed that the law was properly interpreted and applied," Iuppa says in the statement.
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