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Results for “Blue Cross Blue Shield Insurance Plans”

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At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources
PubMed1982

Employer-based health insurance.

Employer-based health insurance (insurance that is purchased by employers for their employees and financed through employer or joint employer-employee contributions) is currently subsidized in part by the federal government through tax exclusions for employer contributions to employee health insurance plans. This subsidization costs the federal government close to 10 billion dollars a year in lost revenues. Many proposed national health insurance plans assign a key role to employer-based health insurance as a vehicle for financing health care. Federal subsidization of employer-based health insurance and plans that assign employers a key role in the administration of a national health insurance plan both assume that private industry acts to realize federal health policy goals-- particularly cost containment--in administering health insurance plans. Little is known, however, about how employers go about selecting the plans they offer their employees or about the incentives and disincentives regarding cost of care than are created by employer-based health insurance. Existing evidence suggests that rather than helping to contain health care costs, employer-based health insurance may be partly responsible for their present escalation. In addition, employer-based health insurance may not be the most equitable way to implement a national health insurance plan.

Blue Cross Blue Shield Insurance Plans↗
PubMed1995

Assessing the role of the Blues plans' all-payer clearinghouses.

A growing number of the nation's 67 Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans, many of which are dominant health insurers in their markets, are attempting to expand their electronic health care transactions business. At least a dozen plans have created claims clearinghouses designed to handle claims and other electronic transactions destined for any payer.

Blue Cross Blue Shield Insurance Plans↗
PubMed1996

Not your father's Blue Cross/Blue Shield.

The Blues landscape is a swirl of activity as the nation's 62 independent plans struggle to remain competitive in today's managed-care environment. Collectively, Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans serve 66.3 million people in widely differing markets. Although the plans have unique cultures, they're merging, affiliating in consortia, creating for-profit subsidiaries and converting to for-profit status. And to borrow from the Oldsmobile slogan, these are definitely not your father's Blues plans.

Blue Cross Blue Shield Insurance Plans↗
PubMed1978

Blue Cross/Blue Shield president strives for 'grass roots' cooperation.

Walter J. McNerney, recently chosen president and chief executive of the newly consolidated Blue Cross and Blue Shield Associations, discusses future plans and goals of the organizations, emphasizing the positive effects the consolidation will have on insurance benefit programs and on the plans' relationships with hospitals and physicians.

Blue Cross Blue Shield Insurance Plans↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Provider group characteristics & quality report card performance: a cross-sectional study in a managed care setting.

We describe 1 health plan's annual, incentive-based, provider group quality report card (Scorecard) and identify trends in Scorecard performance among 142 California provider groups. We explore variation in Scorecard performance by provider group characteristics. Scorecard evaluates provider groups on standardized measures of performance including preventive screening, patient satisfaction, and quality management operations and infrastructure. In a cross-sectional study, we use linear regression to measure associations between provider group characteristics and performance on the 1997 Scorecard. Provider group performance trends (1996-1997) revealed improvement on 6 Scorecard indicators. Regional differences in performance were also shown. Multivariate results indicate that group location in northern California (P = .01), IPA (independent practice association) status (P = .02), older group age (P = .02), and higher mean patient age (P < .01) were independently associated with higher 1997 Scorecard total scores. Member education was marginally associated with performance. Group size, member income, and gender distributions were not independently associated with Scorecard performance. Results of this study suggest that (among Blue Cross of California's contracted provider groups) older, more established groups; groups located in northern California; IPAs; and groups with a patient demographic mix characterized by higher than network average mean age and a lower than network average proportion of members with a college education or greater were more likely to perform well on Scorecard.

Adult↗
PubMed1993

The effect of insurance benefit changes on use of child and adolescent outpatient mental health services.

Use of outpatient mental health services by dependent children younger than 18 years of age enrolled in the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Federal Employees Plan (FEP) is examined in 1978 and 1983 focusing on a cut in benefits and a shift from high- to low-option plan enrollment between those years. While use rates increased from 2.13% to 2.76% by 1983, the average number of visits decreased from 18.9 to 12.8. High-option plan use exceeded low-option plan use in both years--2.26% versus 0.81% in 1978 and 3.58% versus 1.93% in 1983. In addition to benefit plan, ethnicity, parent's education, type of provider, and type of treatment setting also significantly predicted amount of use. Despite the strong evidence of the effects of benefit coverage, it is likely that need exceeded use even in this insured population of children and adolescents. Implications of the findings are discussed in the context of recent dramatic changes in mental service delivery including privatization, managed care initiatives to cut costs, and growing pressures for national health insurance.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1999

New England's Blue Cross Blue Shield shake-out: a case study in consumer activism.

For two generations, Blue Cross Blue Shield (BCBS) insurance plans could be counted on to play a key role in the financing of every community's health care system. "The Blues" dominated the health insurance market, yet they were also a reliable "insurer of last resort." In recent years, BCBS plans have begun to re-structure to stay competitive. Four of New England's BCBS plans have proposed or completed mergers with Anthem Insurance, a mutual insurance company based in Indiana. This issue of States of Health looks at how advocates in New England are working together to protect health care consumers amid this transformation.

Blue Cross Blue Shield Insurance Plans↗