Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan Statement: Compromise Effort for Health Insurance Reform Dies; As Legislature Adjourns, Consumer Protections Left Undone and BCBSM Left with Hard Options
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LANSING, Dec. 18, 2008 - Andrew Hetzel, BCBSM vice president for corporate communications, issued the following statement on behalf of the company after a vocal minority of Senate Republicans prevented compromise health insurance reform legislation from being reported out of a bipartisan House-Senate conference committee today.
"With majorities of House and Senate members supportive of getting health insurance reform done this year and progress in the conference committee, the Senate Republican Leader stepped aside and allowed a small group of Republican members to dictate the agenda and doom the legislation," Hetzel said. "These few Republican Senators have worked tirelessly to protect the interests of out-of-state, for-profit insurance companies. Their effort to derail reform leaves consumers without stronger regulations to protect them, leaves Blue Cross in a rapidly deteriorating financial position and is directly responsible for forcing the decisions we must now make as a company."
"Until the Legislature acts to create a fair and balanced regulatory system that holds for-profit insurers more accountable for rejecting the sick and allows Blue Cross to better compete for younger and healthier individual subscribers, Blue Cross financial losses on individual insurance lines will continue to mount," Hetzel said. "We have informed policy makers and regulators that these losses will exceed $500 million over the next two years combined. Losses this heavy cannot be sustained if Blue Cross is to fulfill our mission as Michigan's health insurance safety net."
"We hope the Legislature revisits reform next year, but you can't run a business based on hope. The inaction by the Senate forces our hand, and company management now has an obligation to make hard business decisions to sustain Blue Cross financially as we wait for the Michigan Legislature to find the will to create a modern, fair and sustainable regulatory structure like most other states have accomplished."
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan is nonprofit and an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association.
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