Mr Bowie resigned suddenly almost two weeks ago after mounting pressure to account for delays in claims payments.
The former chief executive initially blamed the problem on computer glitches, but later admitted the company had not hired and trained enough staff to handle a switch in computer systems.
Dr LeGrice was reluctant to comment on the claims issue yesterday, saying, "If we've got anything to say, we'll let you know".
Asked if the meeting was arranged to discuss the claims situation, Dr LeGrice said: "I don't know about any situation. He [Roger Bowie] is always meeting with ministers, like me."
But he said he would give Mrs King "any reassurance she wants, that we can give her."
Dr LeGrice then became angry when his photograph was taken and a parliamentary security guard hustled him away into the lift leading up to Mrs King's office.
A spokesman for Mrs King later said the Southern Cross representatives had come of their own volition to brief her about the issue. They met her regularly and she had not called them in for a special discussion about the problems.
"They reassured her the company was in a sound financial position and they were taking action to fix the backlog," said the spokesman.
The minister had accepted what they had told her.
The Herald revealed yesterday that Southern Cross will overpay some customers so it can clear a multimillion-dollar backlog.
In a letter dated last Thursday, the insurer told members it was relaxing its rules - in some cases that might mean customers received more money for surgical claims than they had claimed. Anything extra would be a one-off payment and future claims would be processed in the normal way.
Southern Cross is the country's largest health insurer, with 810,000 members.
nzherald.co.nz/southerncross
