Administrator warns about Pennsylvania insurance merger

Philadelphia Inquirer, July 16, 2008

David O'Donnellan, an administrator for a group of Berks County, PA, eye doctors, negotiates with both Highmark and Independence Blue Cross. O'Donellan spoke during a hearing on the proposed merger between the two companies that would create the state's largest health insurer. O'Donellan asked that if the two insurers were allowed to merge, would their best practices be "catching," leading to cost savings and better service, or will they infect each other with their worst tendencies? He described an incident where Independence Blue Cross paid for a corneal transplant, but not the cornea.