The insurance company said it would leave the market at the end of this year.
“It’s a decision we didn’t come to easily or quickly,” said Jeff Roe, president and CEO of LifeWise’s parent company, Premera Blue Cross, headquartered in Mountlake Terrace, Wash. “It’s a situation we’ve studied for multiple years.”
LifeWise lost $35.7 million last year, the latest in a decade of financial losses. Its membership has shrunk to about 50,000 in Oregon, down from a peak of 163,000 in 2004, making it the sixth-largest health insurer. LifeWise hiked its individual rates by 35 percent this year and was less than two weeks away from having to file next year’s request.
(READ MORE: Portland Business Journal)
RELATED NEWS: Health Republic sues feds for $5B; Moda: Back in business, for now; Five Takeaways from the Moda Health Debacle.
