Princeton University

The Policy Research Institute for the Region of the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton University in conjunction with the New Jersey Health Care Quality Institute (www.njhcqi.org) hosted an invitation-only Conversion Forum to discuss the pending application for conversion of Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey from a not-for-profit health service corporation to a for-profit health insurer and what that will mean for New Jersey residents, if the application is successful. 

Conversion is initiated by a minimum two-thirds vote of the Board of Directors of a health service corporation and the filing of a plan of conversion with the Commissioner of the Department of Banking and Insurance (DOBI) and a petition for review of a foundation plan with the New Jersey Attorney General. Horizon BCBSNJ filed an application for conversion and a foundation plan on August 15, 2008.

Under the law governing conversion (N.J.S.A. 17:48E-49 et. seq.) the fair market value of Horizon BCBSNJ at the time of conversion must go to an independent charitable foundation governed by trustees that must use the proceeds for the “purposes of expanding access to affordable, quality health care for underserved individuals and promoting fundamental improvements in the health status of all New Jerseyans.”

It is estimated that the fair market value of Horizon BCBSNJ will be more than $1 billion. Some opponents argue that if a conversion shifts Horizon’s focus to shareholder returns rather than serving its policy holders, poorer residents may experience a loss of insurance, while spokespeople for BCBSNJ propose that this money will enable New Jersey to improve its health care system without having to raise state taxes.

Forum participants presented their views on the pending BCBSNJ conversion application, analyzed the results of similar conversions in other states, and offerred opinions on anticipated benefits and potential problems for Jersey health care recipients.

 

Joel Cantor, ScD
Professor and Director, Center for State Health Policy
Rutgers University
Sustaining a Charitable Mission in New Jersey - What the numbers say

Mark Smith, MD
President & CEO
California HealthCare Foundation
The California Experience

James R. Schwartz, Esq.
Partner, Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP 
Role of the Regulators

Christopher Conover, PhD
Research Scholar of Public Policy Studies and Director, and
Jim Bernstein, Health Policy Scholars Program; Senior Fellow, Health Inequalities Program, Duke University 
An Empirical Review

Charles Bell
Programs Director, Consumers Union 
Lessons from Empire in New York 
 

On April 11th, PRIOR hosted “Reflecting on Improved Literacy: An Invitational Exchange,” a roundtable session aimed at assessing Intensive Early Literacy (IEL) in New Jersey. Spearheaded by Woodrow Wilson School Lecturer Gordon MacInnes, the gathering opened with an overview of the state’s progress with respect to IEL and continued with presentations by leaders from the City of Orange, Union City and the Passaic School District on their respective strategies and achievements in the area of literacy. Representatives from select school districts, staff from the New Jersey Department of Education, Princeton University faculty and various practitioners and consultants exchanged ideas and considered potential next steps, such as the formation of a permanent working group.

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