Beginning with Highmark’s acquisition of AHN in 2013, state insurance regulators required Highmark to gain approval before investing $250 million or more in AHN in a 12-month period. Highmark also had to notify state regulators of transfers worth $100 million or more. The Pennsylvania Insurance Department sought the information to ensure Highmark maintained enough funds to pay its members’ claims.
However, Highmark recently requested the requirements be lightened to “respond more quickly to changes in the healthcare landscape, and thus provide more healthcare options to consumers,” the report states. State regulators granted the request Friday.
Under the requirement’s modification, Highmark can invest in the AHN system sans approval or notification to the state if the expenditure doesn’t surpass 10 percent of the payer’s surplus. Highmark’s surplus totals $3.9 billion, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports.
Pennsylvania Insurance Commissioner Teresa Miller said in a release to Pittsburgh Post-Gazette the change “will still require Highmark Inc., at all times, to maintain sufficient risk-based capital to pay all claims submitted by its health insurance customers.”
For the full report, click here.
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