Portland, Ore.-based Cambia Health Solutions and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina have officially called off their proposed affiliation days after the North Carolina insurer's former CEO was found guilty of charges connected to a June car accident.
The two not-for-profit Blues insurers had put their plans to combine on hold in September until the legal process concluded. Blue Cross of North Carolina former CEO Dr. Patrick Conway, who was arrested in the allegedly alcohol-related accident in June and resigned from his position in late September, was slated to become CEO of both companies.
The insurers had planned to share management, administrative, operational and other corporate services under a long-term services-management agreement under the Cambia name. The companies withdrew regulatory applications while the affiliation was on hold, Cambia said in an announcement Friday.
Conway, a former CMS official, was found guilty of driving while impaired and misdemeanor child abuse in connection with the car accident. Blue Cross of North Carolina put Conway on temporary leave following his arrest but then reinstated him after a board review. The insurer, which only publicly acknowledged the incident after it was revealed by local media outlets, was criticized for how it handled the situation. In a news release last week, the insurer said it is developing new procedures for reporting significant events.
