MM 1 Sentence Summary- BCBS and Cambia Health’s merge has been delayed because of CEO Conway’s legal trouble
Blue Cross puts merger on hold amid video showing CEO sideswiping tractor trailer on I-85
September 24, 2019 12:57 PM
Video appears to show BCBS CEO driving erratically, hitting tractor-trailer on I-85
A video provided to The News & Observer appears to show an SUV driven by Patrick Conway, president and CEO of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of NC, weaving between lanes for several miles on Interstate 85 before colliding with a tractor-trailer. By Submitted Video
ASHEBORO
North Carolina’s largest health insurer on Tuesday suspended an ongoing merger, making the announcement the same day new details emerged about its CEO’s recent driving charges.
“Blue Cross NC has decided to put its proposed strategic affiliation with Cambia Health Solutions on temporary hold,” the company announced in an email to media shortly after 3 p.m. “Blue Cross NC is committed to focusing on its customers, employees and the North Carolina communities it serves.”
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Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina and Cambia, an Oregon-based company, announced their intentions to form a partnership in March. The two companies would together cover around 6 million people and have about $16 billion in combined revenue, the News & Observer previously reported.
Blue Cross is bigger than Cambia, reporting $9.9 billion in revenue last year and covering 3.7 million people. Cambia had revenue of about $6 billion on coverage of around 2.6 million people.
Blue Cross announced the merger being put on hold on the same day that new details emerged about Dr. Patrick Conway, its president and CEO. A video provided to The News & Observer Tuesday appears to show Conway weaving between lanes for several miles on Interstate 85 before sideswiping a tractor-trailer.
Conway, 45, was charged with driving while impaired and misdemeanor child abuse after the June 22 accident. His two daughters were in the car, according to police.
Video of Conway’s car
The video, shot by a motorist on I-85 and sent to police, shows an SUV that appears to match the 2017 Cadillac listed on the report from Archdale police.
An affidavit from the Archdale officer said Conway smelled of alcohol, had bloodshot eyes and slurred speech and was unsteady on his feet. He refused a blood-alcohol test and had his license revoked for 30 days, according to court records.
According to a confidential police report obtained by WRAL, Conway denied wrongdoing and later became “belligerent” at the police station.
The report quotes Conway saying: “’You had a choice. You could have let me go. You don’t know who I am. I am a doctor, a CO of a company. I’ll call Governor Cooper and get you in trouble,’“ WRAL reported.
Cooper “was not involved in this incident in any way,” spokesman Ford Porter told The N&O.
Blue Cross didn’t comment on Tuesday’s reports. Conway’s attorney, Thomas Walker, released a statement to the N&O saying the CEO is “deeply ashamed and embarrassed” about the pain he caused family and co-workers.
“He knows his conduct was unacceptable and not consistent with who he is as a person. He has never had an incident like this before,” Walker said.
“To his credit, he immediately disclosed the incident to the Blue Cross NC Board. He stepped down from his daily duties and voluntarily and successfully completed 30 days of inpatient substance use treatment. He’s committed to continuing to handle this appropriately going forward and will do so.”
Blue Cross response
Last week, state Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey asked for Conway to be replaced by an interim president while his charges are resolved, calling them “alarming.”
He also chided the Blue Cross board for appearing to hide the arrest, saying he expected the insurer’s executive team to be more “accountable, responsible and transparent.”
Conway earned $3.59 million last year, WRAL reported.
In response, board Chairman Frank Holding Jr. said Conway had undergone a professional substance abuse assessment and attended a 30-day inpatient treatment.
“Based on detailed information shared by the facility based on Dr. Conway’s assessment and treatment, the board was satisfied Dr. Conway could continue to provide strong leadership to BlueCross NC,” Holding’s letter said.
Blue Cross “refrained” from talking publicly about Conway’s incident “out of respect for the legal process underway in Randolph County, Dr. Conway’s right to due process, and medical privacy concerns and obligations,” Holding added.
Washington commissioner’s letter
On Tuesday night, Washington’s state insurance commissioner released a letter he sent to Cambia Heath Solutions’ Board of Directors earlier that day.
In the letter, Commissioner Mike Kreidler said his office is reviewing the proposed merger of Cambia with Blue Cross. Cambia was formerly known as The Regence Group, according to its website.
Krieidler said he learned only about Conway’s June arrest on Sept. 19, the day news reports were published about the allegations. He said he learned about the arrest after Cambia CEO Mark Ganz asked for his personal cell phone number “to communicate an urgent message that could not wait until normal business hours.”
Kreidler said Blue Cross should have notified him immediately and had a “legal obligation” to inform him within two business days of “any material changes” to Conway’s biographical affidavit.
“The fact that Dr. Conway was arrested and faces serious allegations and charges is without question a material change,” Kreidler wrote.
“I am deeply troubled by your failure to communicate responsibly and transparently,” he said in the letter to the board of directors. “Both the board and CEO share the responsibility to deal with my office in a straightforward and honest fashion. Secrets are not permissible.
“Your behavior in this matter must, and will, be taken into account as my office considers the Cambia/Regence’s request for a merger,” the letter concluded.
Staff writers Zachery Eanes and Mark Schultz contributed to this story
Paul “Andy” Specht reports on North Carolina leaders and state politics for The News & Observer and PolitiFact. Specht previously covered Raleigh City Hall and town governments around the Triangle. He’s a Raleigh native who graduated from Campbell University in Buies Creek, N.C. Contact him at as*****@**********er.com or (919) 829-4870.
Major Blue Health Insurers Drop Deal to Combine
Move comes after resignation of North Carolina insurer CEO Patrick Conway
By
Anna Wilde Mathews,
Leslie Scism and
Valerie Bauerlein
Oct. 11, 2019 8:51 pm ET
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina and Cambia Health Solutions said they were dropping plans to combine, after the resignation of the North Carolina insurer’s chief executive.
Former Blue Cross of North Carolina CEO Patrick Conway had stepped down amid fallout over an allegedly alcohol-related traffic accident. The two insurers had said they were pausing their deal on Sept. 24, as details of the June incident emerged.