CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield Inc., one of the mid-Atlantic's major sources of corporate philanthropy, is threatening that federal health care reform could jeopardize its community giving.

In a filing with D.C. Department of Insurance, Securities and Banking, CareFirst officials say that proposed rules may not exempt its charitable giving from the law's required minimum spending on medical claims. The insurer says if the proposals under debate are enacted in 2011, all of its "contributions to the community" may be considered administrative expenses - expenses which will be strongly discouraged.

Some say CareFirst may be overstating the case. The National Association of Insurance Commissioners, charged with writing the new rules, has only written proposals regarding "community benefit expenditures" - specifically health programs that are broadly available to the public or would otherwise fall to the government - not all charitable giving.

CareFirst, a nonprofit, is the eighth-largest corporate philanthropist in the Washington area, giving $5.2 million in cash locally and $11.4 million total in 2009, according to Washington Business Journal data. In an annual report, the company claims $46 million in giving of all kinds last year.