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Witness urges caution on Blue Cross board seats, health-sharing transparency and association health plan timing
Summary
Mike Fisher, testifying on H585, supported gubernatorial appointment of two Blue Cross public board members and backed transparency measures for health-sharing ministries but urged delaying expansion of association health plans until a scheduled study reports to avoid worsening adverse selection in the small-group market.
Mike Fisher, who identified himself at the hearing as Mike Fisher (health expert), told the Senate Finance Committee that H585 contains provisions worth supporting but urged caution on several points.
Fisher said he and his organization generally support the bill’s provisions and specifically endorsed the governor’s appointment of two public members to Blue Cross Blue Shield’s board, calling such appointments a meaningful signal of oversight. He told senators he did not expect board appointees alone to have prevented recent problems but said the proposal indicated the commissioner’s seriousness about oversight.
At the same time, multiple senators questioned whether the Department of Financial Regulation (DFR) should instead strengthen its internal oversight rather than seek board seats. One senator warned that putting regulators on nonprofit boards could set a precedent that makes it easier to place state designees on other nonprofit boards in future disputes. Fisher acknowledged those concerns and said regulators’ ability to act quickly and access information should also be part of the reform conversation.
On health-sharing ministries, Fisher described consumer confusion when marketing uses insurance-like language (for example, referencing compliance with the Affordable Care Act or metal levels) and said H585’s transparency provisions would provide “the most basic information” regulators and legislators need — how many people participate and how much money flows through those arrangements. He noted there is litigation on related questions in Colorado and said the section reflects a basic public-interest transparency request.
Fisher’s longest critique concerned association health plans (AHPs). He argued the small-group market already shows adverse selection: healthier groups move toward self-funded or certain markets while higher-claim groups remain in the small-group pool, increasing costs for remaining employers. Fisher urged the committee to wait for the results of the study scheduled to report in January (a study cited in the bill) before opening up AHPs effective January 1, 2028. He said the bill’s timing (AHP changes effective before the study’s findings) risks destabilizing the small-group market.
The committee acknowledged Fisher’s concerns and signaled intent to bring regulators (DFR and others) to testify in future sessions so members can ask detailed oversight questions. The committee did not take final action on H585 during Fisher’s appearance; Fisher said he would be available for follow-up questions.
What happens next: committee staff said they will invite DFR and other officials for further testimony next week to address oversight, data access and the implementation timetable for AHP changes.
