The D.C. Appleseed Center for Law and justice is developing its own evaluation report of the proposed sale of CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield to forprofit WellPoint Health Networks of California.
Its numbers aren't finished yet, but D.C. Appleseed expects the deal to be worth a whole lot more than current estimates. WellPoint, in its proposal, would purchase Carefirst, the region's largest health insurer, for $1.3 billion.
D.C. Appleseed is pushing to have its report completed by Sept. 27, which is when Maryland insurance commissioner Steven Larsen expects to hear whether Carefirst and WellPoint plan to continue with the acquisition.
The Maryland Insurance Administration recently had the Blackstone Group, an investment and advisory group, do an evaluation of the transaction. Blackstone reported that WellPoint should pay up to $2.25 billion.
"We're certainly going to agree with the Blackstone Group that the fair market value is significantly higher than the $1.3 billion CareFirst and WellPoint have agreed on," says Walter Smith, executive director of D.C. Appleseed.
Smith says he expects to come up with a specific figure for the deal rather than a range.
"We're going to use similar methodologies to the Blackstone Group, but with tighter ranges; their ranges are pretty broad," Smith says.
D.C. Appleseed, an independent nonprofit advocacy organization, still is waiting for information to arrive from CareFirst and WellPoint before it completes its evaluation report.
D.C. insurance commissioner Larry Mirel recently announced he will allow D.C. Appleseed to participate in hearings regarding the conversion of CareFirst BlueCross to a for-profit company. Hearings in the District are scheduled for Dec. 16. |
