State Insurance Commissioner, and Republican candidate for Governor, Steve Poizner filed an official accusation on Monday accusing insurance giant Anthem Blue Cross of more than 700 violations of state law, including more than 270 instances of failing to pay claims within 30 days. These alleged violations took place between 2006 and last year and carry a maximum penalty of $10,000 per violation.

Poizner told reporters at a press conference on Monday that his office had been researching Anthem’s claim-paying process well before the company announced its recent rate hike of up to 39% for some policyholders.

“We’ve been looking closely at Anthem’s claim-paying practices for over a year,” he said.

An Anthem spokesperson was quoted as saying the company took these charges very seriously.

According to the Insurance Commission's filing, in addition to the 270 instances of possible late payment of claims, the company is accused of more than 140 instances of not responding to the Department of Insurance in a reasonable amount of time; more than 60 cases of misrepresenting facts or policy to customers; 25 cases of failure to pay interest on unreimbursed claims; 22 cases of offering “unreasonably low” settlement offers; 21 instances of outright failure to pay or contest a claim within 30 days; and 170 cases of claim delays and claim-handling violations.

In news about a separate, ongoing investigation focused on Anthem, Poizner went on to say that he had a “healthy skepticism” that the company is complying with a state law that requires that 70% of every dollar paid in premiums must go to actual health care