Carefirst

The Maryland Better Business Bureau says it continues to hear identity theft concerns from customers of CareFirst's The Dental Network HMO, which last month accidentally posted the personal data of 75,000 subscribers on a public Web site. It offers these tips: Check your insurance plan. You are only at risk if you have The Dental Network through CareFirst. Simply being a CareFirst member does not put you at risk. The Dental Network is offering a free year of identity protection service.

A CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield dental HMO accidentally exposed personal information, including Social Security numbers, of about 75,000 members on a public Web site last month and didn't notify them until about three weeks later. The Dental Network, which is owned by CareFirst, informed the members - mostly Maryland and District of Columbia residents - that their names, addresses, dates of birth and Social Security numbers had been posted on its Web site for two weeks in February because of a technical error.

Chester Burrell, chief executive of CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield, stood between Gov. Martin O'Malley and a phalanx of Maryland officials yesterday as they touted the company's contribution to help seniors pay for prescription drugs. After two months as CareFirst's CEO, Burrell is forging a relationship with state leaders that is in stark contrast to the rocky relations between state officials and his predecessor, William L. Jews. Before stepping down in 2006, Jews drew fire from lawmakers and regulators when he attempted to convert CareFirst to a for-profit operation and sell it several years ago. Burrell says he is committed to CareFirst's status as a not-for-profit entity.

In a public-private partnership to help thousands of seniors struggling to pay for prescription drugs, Gov. Martin O'Malley plans to announce today a deal with CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield to help cover those caught in a Medicare gap. The agreement would help seniors bridge the "doughnut hole," a much criticized cost-saving measure built into the Medicare prescription drug benefit passed by Congress in 2003. The program covers annual prescription costs up to a certain amount and costs above a higher threshold, but not those in between, leaving a hole in the middle of the coverage plan.

Maryland : Nuclear power Constellation unit acts on reactor plan Constellation Energy Group's nuclear development arm has notified federal regulators of its plans to seek a license to build a nuclear reactor near Oswego, N.Y., the company said yesterday. UniStar Nuclear, a joint venture of Constellation and Paris-based EDF Group, said the Nuclear Regulatory Commission notification is another milestone in its plans to build up to four new plants in the United States based on a French reactor design.

MySpace to add teen protection MySpace announced an agreement with 49 states, including Maryland, to protect children from Internet predators. The agreement outlines of measures aimed at protecting teenagers who use the site, at myspace.com, and keeping those under 14 from creating profiles. Realty market gain expected The National Association of Realtors' chief economist told local real estate agents that he believes the Baltimore housing market has hit bottom and 2008 should be a better year - assuming buyers don't sit on the sidelines, anticipating major price drops.

CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield launched yesterday a new program designed to reward physicians for practices that improve patients' health - an approach it believes could ultimately lower medical costs. CareFirst, the region's largest insurer with about 3 million members, said it would pay doctors as much as 7 percent extra for meeting a variety of standards of care. Those measures are a mix of process (if women get needed mammograms), service (if there are weekend or evening hours) and outcomes (if patients lower their cholesterol)

Designing new health insurance packages to cover the uninsured. Finding ways to reward doctors and hospitals for good and efficient care. Controlling medical costs. Building a secure system of electronic medical records. Chester "Chet" Burrell, the new chief executive officer of CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield, is setting an ambitious agenda for himself and his company. Burrell, who started on the job Dec. 1, has been busy in his first month, meeting with the political leaders, hospital executives and others who have had a sometimes contentious relationship with the state's largest health insurer over the past few years.

A Forest Hill business that sold CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield health insurance policies orchestrated a scheme to overcharge policyholders and pocket the money, according to the Maryland Insurance Administration. The agency yesterday revoked licenses for Hofmann Benefit Solutions and its owner Cullen D. Hofmann and ordered them to pay $60,000 in fines. P. Todd Cioni, associate commissioner at the insurance administration, said that as many as 50 small employers were snared in the scheme in which consumers overpaid for insurance by an estimated tens of thousands of dollars.

Maryland's insurance commissioner ordered a hearing yesterday to determine whether the former chief executive of CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield should be allowed to receive a $17.65 million retirement and severance package from the health insurer. William L. Jews left his post a year ago in what CareFirst's board chairman, Michael R. Merson, described as "a mutual decision." Merson said at the time that Jews would receive "substantial" payments after his departure, but the amount hadn't been made public until the insurance commissioner specified it in his order yesterday.