The Schwarzenegger
administration today gave a big Thanksgiving present to the Gov’s 30th
biggest donor — Blue Cross of California. Schwarzenegger’s HMO
regulator announced that Blue Cross’s premium increases were not used
to finance $4 billion in recent merger costs. The only catch is the
actuary Schwarzenegger’s people picked for the audit is a former HMO
accountant who states he did not examine the truthfulness of the
assumptions Blue Cross used to calculate its premiums, such as medical
cost inflation and administrative overhead costs. This Thanksgiving
white wash for a $234,000 donor is evidence that Schwarzenegger may
have eaten crow over his special election loss, but there’s still
something very fowl in Arnold’s administration.