California Insurance

Battered by the explosive growth of expenditures for medical care, the giant Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association is fighting for his role as the nation’s largest insurer.

Battered by the explosive growth of expenditures for medical care, the giant Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association is fighting for his role as the nation’s largest insurer.

After the loss of 10 million customers since 1980, and $ 3 billion in deficits over the past two years, the association has been shaken by doubts about its mission. Officials of the association, a federation of 75 public and local health plans, debate on whether oriented business, or continue to insist on public services.

Blue Cross and Blue Shield began in quasi-1930 as a public service efforts by hospitals and doctors to reassure all young people, to disseminate and ensure the costs of their medical affairs for the sponsors. But some health plans have recently rather commercial insurers, employees are necessarily with income and return often customers at high risk or to defend himself with steep increases.

The managers of 75 projects will meet next week in Chicago to discuss their problems, including the impact of rising costs of health on the quality of care and access to care for unversichert. Spending on strong growth

Spending on health care is anticipated that about 600 billion dollars this year, 11.6 per cent of gross national product. Insurers, combat slowing growth and shifting the burden to consumers, premiums and deductibles and supplements, that most people have to pay.

The Association of the national market share, slipping to 31 per cent, a maximum of 37 percent from mid-1970 as a result of increased competition by insurance trade organizations of health care and reduction of groups of doctors and hospitals.

The number of people without health insurance of any kind, has now increased by 37 million euros. But the Non-Profit-Blue Cross plans, the premium had revenues of over $ 50 billion in the year 1988, more than 76 million privately insured persons and 30 million more than federal mediators for Medicare.

The local plans are very different in size, financial capacity and philosophy, which is on diversity in their countries of origin reasons. Competitive difficult in some markets like California, local plans have publicly rejected many of its attributes.

”We had to invent this new company in the past three years because of changes in the domestic market and problems in California,’’said Leonard D. Schaeffer, president of Blue Cross of California.

Mr. Schaeffer’s Organisation and separation Blue Shield of California plan followed were other customers in an internal struggle, devastated officials of the national association headquarters in Chicago. Neither the plans of California, nearly 25 percent market share of the Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, major national health, the Organization of maintenance has its headquarters in Oakland, California

Eleven association plans across the country have even gone further in ensuring mutual insurance holding, the State evade the requirements of public service companies-style increases the rate hearings and other provisions. And three plans, mergers in Iowa and South Dakota, taking into account the mutual route.

But the local level are still dominating the insurers remain in their areas, there are many community-oriented services, dating back to 1930’s.

The plan Rochester, for example, still provides individuals, regardless of age and health history, any losses with revenue from its major groups of accounts. ”We are far from 180 degrees of market share Kalifornien”des and philosophy, “said Howard Berman, president of Rochester plan.

The common role is essential, “said Bernard R. Tresnowski, President and Chief Executive national Blue Cross and Blue Shield. ”We would like to be better maintained, social objectives, or we will not be round,”he said. ”If you are connecting to a commercial insurance company, you are, indeed, writing your own shipwreck.