I'm getting tired of this disingenuous crap and the people pushing it, folks.
"A call for teamwork; Blue Cross-Blue Shield CEO says insurers, state must cooperate" by Robert Weisman, Globe Staff | April 13, 2010
William C. Van Faasen, back in the chief executive’s seat at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Massachusetts for only three weeks, finds himself battling state regulators over their rejection of proposed health premium hikes for individuals and small businesses....
When he stepped down five years ago, Van Faasen was criticized for taking home more than $16 million in retirement benefits. But he believes the complaints were not warranted. “The company didn’t give it to me,’’ he said. “I spent 37 years earning it’’ through incentive programs....
Yup, he earned it and yet his company is going broke (so they say).
But sounding like a reluctant warrior, Van Faasen says it’s time for health insurers to shed their armor and work with state officials and health care providers to slow the constant rise in health costs. A Suffolk County Superior Court judge yesterday denied a motion that would have let six insurance carriers, including Blue Cross-Blue Shield, boost rates 8 to 32 percent for what is known as the small group market.
“I won’t invest any energy of mine, and I don’t want the company to invest any, in arguing that the current rate of increase in health care costs is appropriate,’’ Van Faasen said in an interview in the insurer’s headquarters in Landmark Center near Fenway Park.
Referring to Governor Deval Patrick’s vow to deny insurance premium increases he deemed excessive, which led to the April 1 rate rejections, Van Faasen said, “If his intention was to send a message to the community, then I think he’s achieved his goal. It’s time to get to work’’ to tackle the cost burden on families and businesses, he said.
Van Faasen, 61, ran the state’s largest health insurer for 13 years before retiring in 2005 and passing the chief executive’s mantle to his deputy, Cleve Killingsworth. When Killingsworth resigned abruptly March 13, the board asked Van Faasen to return on an interim basis. He soon found himself in the midst of a dispute over escalating health care costs that is drawing national attention....
Related: The Massachusetts Model: Blue Cross Turns Green For Killingsworth
Yeah, they really care about costs and all.
Van Faasen, who has spent nearly four decades in health insurance, said the industry is undergoing “a generational change’’ as the health care system is overhauled in Massachusetts and nationally. He said payment systems and reimbursement formulas “have to catch up’’ by developing products around limited or tiered networks of providers and giving consumers incentives to make more informed choices about medical care.
Rationing.
I'm glad I never willingly access the health care system.
Paul F. Levy, chief executive of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, said he agreed with Van Faasen that it’s time for all parties to tackle the issue of mounting health care costs. But Levy said one prerequisite for doing that is to publish data on the prices of medical services at hospitals across Massachusetts, something insurance companies have been reluctant to do.
“You can’t talk about costs and prices unless people know what the costs and prices are,’’ said Levy, who believes some hospitals have used their market clout to pressure insurers into higher reimbursements. “That publicity helps to create a moral force and a business argument for reducing health care costs in the state.’’
I'm sorry, readers; I'm just tired of reading and hearing fart mist.
Van Faasen acknowledged it may take years for new payment systems to emerge. And since the Blue Cross-Blue Shield board has yet to form a search committee to hunt for a permanent successor to Killingsworth, his tenure as interim chief executive may last longer than expected....
For now, Van Faasen has his hands full.
With how much of that $16 million-dollar retirement?
Blue Cross-Blue Shield posted a $149.2 million operating loss in 2009, and it lost members because of mounting layoffs at companies that buy its insurance. Van Faasen said the insurer is likely to lose money again this year, particularly if the court upholds the state’s right to limit premium increases to a level at which, he insisted, carriers can’t make money....
In that case, LET'S GET RID of them ALL and GO SINGLE-PAYER!!!
How about that, huh?
What do you mean, wuh, wuh, wuh, wait a minute!?
--more--"
Scum.
