news-record.com

From a story in today’s paper:

RALEIGH — Rep. Pricey Harrison has asked the state’s attorney general and Department of Insurance to investigate Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina’s use of campaign-style tactics aimed at defeating controversial federal health insurance legislation.

The Greensboro Democrat wants to know whether the insurer violated the state’s do-not-call registry law with an automated message in late October. And she questions whether it is proper for the insurer to use its premiums to pay for the calls and two recent pieces of direct mail.

“I have heard from a number of constituents who were really upset about the postcard campaign,” Harrison said Thursday. “There are a lot of angry taxpayers, policyholders and state employees.”

Click here for the whole thing.

Some back-up documentation:

• Click here for one of the BCBS fliers in question. (PDF)
• Click here for some background here, here and here.
• Click here for Harrison’s letter. (PDF)
• Click here for BCBS corporate documents filed at the Secretary of State’s site.

In included that last link because there was some discussion over whether or not the insurer is a nonprofit. Their folks point out that the company pays taxes. But Harrison and other advocates point out they’re organized as a nonprofit. And all their corporate document filings list them as a nonprofit.