Blue Cross, Tufts Back Down: No Apocalypse Now

Insurers and state regulators are in court today, facing off over proposed health insurance premium increases that were rejected by the Patrick administration as "excessive."

Yesterday, two major insurers, Blue Cross Blue and Shield of Massachusetts and Tufts Health Plan backed down and agreed to resume selling plans using last year's base rates instead of pushing for double-digit increases, according to a report in The Boston Globe.

The chief of Blue Cross told the Globe he thought it best to try to de-escalate the standoff with the state:

“We don’t see any advantage in digging the hole deeper and piling on in an adversarial way,’’ said William C. Van Fassen, interim chief executive at Blue Cross-Blue Shield. While the court is deliberating on the rate rejections, he said, the insurer would prepare the new rates. “The community can’t afford to let the situation get to ‘Apocalypse Now,’ ’’ Van Fassen said.