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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- Regence BlueCross BlueShield of Utah contests a consultant's report that found no evidence Intermountain Healthcare strong-arms competitors to the harm of consumers or that the state's largest owner of hospitals and commercial insurance plans engages in unfair business practices.
The IHC competitor hired its own expert, who criticized the consultant's report.
The Privately Owned Health Care Organization Task Force met Thursday to hear reactions to the $300,000 report commissioned by the panel and made public earlier this month.
In that report, consultant David Argue of Economists Incorporated said Utah's health-care system serves consumers well by forcing health insurance companies and health care providers to provide services of excellent quality and reasonable price. Argue urged the Legislature to stay out of the health-care market, contending interference will probably upset competition and hurt consumers.
IHC Senior Vice President Greg Poulsen praised the report, saying it was consistent with federal and state antitrust law. He agreed with its conclusion that there are no anticompetitive business practices in the state's health-care markets.
Scott Ideson, president of Regence BlueCross BlueShield of Utah, said Argue's report does not provide the task force with enough information to come to grips with trials facing what he called Utah's broken health care system, which he said does not provide equal access to all Utahns.
"All is not well, and the report concludes that all is fine," Ideson said.
Regence hired David Scheffman, a former Federal Trade Commission chief economist and a director of LECG LLC, a California firm that provides expert testimony to corporations and governments.
Jennifer Cannaday, Regence assistant director of legislative and regulatory affairs, said Scheffman's report concluded IHC has "significant potential market power" in some parts of Utah.
"There are widespread concerns raised by other providers and insurers with IHC's contracting and business practices. I do not believe that Dr. Argue has dealt adequately with those concerns. Because it appears that IHC has significant market power, those concerns must be adequately addressed," Scheffman said.
Scheffman said Utah's health care market is unusual because IHC provides both health care services and is one of the state's largest health insurance companies.
He said Argue ignored the possibility this vertical integration was developed for the purpose of reducing competition, and that the effect may be anticompetitive.
He said Argue's report does not prove that lawmakers should leave the health care market alone. But he did not propose any remedies, saying he would need more information to determine if there are problems for the legislature to solve.
Some task force members bristled at Regence for hiring LECG. Rep. Brad Dee, R-Ogden, noted that LECG bid unsuccessfully for the contract awarded to Economists Incorporated and he said he would have been surprised if Scheffman had thought Argue's report "was really good."
(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
