Jane Von Bergen has a really strong Inquirer piece this morning about health insurance competition in our state and how it plays out for some of the larger purchasers of insurance, What can happen if Blues compete. The part that will hit home the most for some of us is the story about the car dealership owner who plays the two off against each other for a better rate. That said, some of the stories about how the market opened up and how that played out for some of the region's big institutions also has a lot of food for thought in it.

Some advocates here are already organizing around opportunities presented by this merger. The "non-profit" Blues in the state are sitting on such an unbelievable amount of money in "reserves" that a massive earthquake could ravage the whole state and they'd probably still be able to cover the doctor bills. Then, of course, there is the question of who will keep The Big Blue honest if it controls the overwhelming majority of the insurance market.

Anyway, Philadelphians have a chance to weigh in on the proposed merger at the Philadelphia Sheraton on July 15th.