Topeka ? A bill that supporters said would give consumers more say in proposed insurance company mergers was spiked Wednesday by the House Insurance Committee chairwoman.

State Rep. Patricia Lightner, R-Overland Park, told the measure’s supporters that the bill wouldn’t be considered by the committee during the current legislative session. She assigned it to a subcommittee for more study.

Supporters of the bill said they were disappointed.

“We would very much like to have had it heard this session because there is very much a need for it,” said Jim Zakoura, an Overland Park attorney.

The measure was the result of the proposed merger between Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas and Anthem Insurance Cos. of Indianapolis. Anthem proposed paying $190 million to acquire Kansas Blue Cross, which is the state’s largest provider of health insurance.

In February 2002, then-Insurance Commissioner Kathleen Sebelius rejected the sale. A few months later, a state judge struck down Sebelius’ order, a decision that has been appealed. The Kansas Supreme Court will consider the appeal March 5.

Under the bill sought by Zakoura and a coalition of health care groups called Keep Kansas Blue Cross Kansas-based, a vote of policyholders on whether to allow a company to convert from a mutual insurance company to a stock insurance company could be done only after the insurance commissioner had analyzed the proposal.

In the Blue Cross-Anthem proposal, the vote was done before the commissioner ruled on the proposal.

The measure also would give each insured party a vote, instead of the current system in which an individual policy holder has the same voting power as a company with one policy that may cover hundreds of workers.

Lightner also she did not want to deal with the bill because of the pending appeal in the Kansas Blue Cross case.

But Zakoura said the proposed rules needed to be in place if the Kansas Supreme Court kicks the issue back to the Kansas Department of Insurance for further work. Lightner said it wouldn’t be fair to change the rules in the middle of the transaction process.

Lightner has received some criticism in recent days because she hurried people who came to testify on bills expanding insurance coverage. On Tuesday, she apologized for her behavior but said the committee would not consider those bills this year.

House Speaker Doug Mays, R-Topeka, said he was sticking by Lightner as the Insurance Committee chairwoman.

“I give my chairs a lot of freedom,” he said.

Democrats said they accepted Lightner’s apology, but they switched one of their members on the committee, putting Assistant Minority Leader R.J. Wilson, D-Pittsburg, on the panel. House Minority Leader Dennis McKinney, D-Greensburg, said the move was made so that Wilson could closely monitor the procedure of the committee.