Getting to no: how Kansas advocates derailed the Anthem steamroller

A battle royale has taken shape in Kansas about the future of its Blue Cross and Blue Shield plan. This past February, Kansas Insurance Commissioner Kathleen Sebelius rocked the corporate health care establishment by refusing to allow Anthem Insurance Company to buy the state's independent Blue Cross and Blue Shield plan. Then in June, a state judge overturned her decision. Now the case is headed to appeals court, where Sebelius will seek to have her decision reinstated. At the heart of the legal wrangling is the unprecedented manner in which advocates have asserted consumer interests, raising issues that will persist long after the courts hand down a final ruling. States of Health looks at how consumer advocates have responded to the proposed Blues transaction, a process that has strengthened the health consumer voice in Kansas--and offers important lessons for advocates in other states as well.