Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan

Last updated
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan
Company typeIndependent
Industry Health insurance
Founded1929
Headquarters Detroit, Michigan, United States
Products PPOs, HMOs
Website bcbsm.com

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan (BCBSM) is an independent licensee of Blue Cross Blue Shield Association. [1]

Currently it is headquartered in 600 E. Lafayette Blvd. in downtown Detroit. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, a nonprofit mutual insurance company, provides and administers health benefits to more than 4.3 million members residing in Michigan in addition to members of Michigan-headquartered groups who reside outside the state.

Prior to January, 2014, BCBSM operated as a tax-exempt nonprofit organization. The state legislature enacted a law that became effective in January 2014 [2] , which allowed the conversion of the organization to a nonprofit mutual insurance company, ostensibly to level the playing field among health insurers during the transition to new regulations under the Affordable Care Act. As part of the transition to the new corporate structure, BCBSM agreed to several concessions. These included agreeing to pay approximately $90 million in state and local taxes annually and committing to contribute about $1.5 billion over 18 years to fund a state endowment for youth and senior wellness programs. [3] [4]

The worker's compensation insurance firm Accident Fund operates as a for-profit subsidiary of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan.

In 2019, four Michigan addiction treatment facilities filed lawsuits against BCBSM for "unjustified slashing of payments" and "a high number of claims denials for substance use treatment. [5] That same year Michigan Department of Health and Human Services planned on expanding the program to including additional assistance for the serious mentally ill in northern Michigan. The funds come from the Michigan Health Endowment Fund created in 2013 and requires Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan to contribute "up to $1.56 billion over 18 years to a health endowment fund that benefits Michigan residents". [6]

Related Research Articles

Health insurance or medical insurance is a type of insurance that covers the whole or a part of the risk of a person incurring medical expenses. As with other types of insurance, risk is shared among many individuals. By estimating the overall risk of health risk and health system expenses over the risk pool, an insurer can develop a routine finance structure, such as a monthly premium or payroll tax, to provide the money to pay for the health care benefits specified in the insurance agreement. The benefit is administered by a central organization, such as a government agency, private business, or not-for-profit entity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cigna</span> American health services organization

The Cigna Group is a for-profit American multinational managed healthcare and insurance company based in Bloomfield, Connecticut. Its insurance subsidiaries are major providers of medical, dental, disability, life and accident insurance and related products and services, the majority of which are offered through employers and other groups. Cigna is incorporated in Delaware.

The term managed care or managed healthcare is used in the United States to describe a group of activities intended to reduce the cost of providing health care and providing American health insurance while improving the quality of that care. It has become the predominant system of delivering and receiving American health care since its implementation in the early 1980s, and has been largely unaffected by the Affordable Care Act of 2010.

...intended to reduce unnecessary health care costs through a variety of mechanisms, including: economic incentives for physicians and patients to select less costly forms of care; programs for reviewing the medical necessity of specific services; increased beneficiary cost sharing; controls on inpatient admissions and lengths of stay; the establishment of cost-sharing incentives for outpatient surgery; selective contracting with health care providers; and the intensive management of high-cost health care cases. The programs may be provided in a variety of settings, such as Health Maintenance Organizations and Preferred Provider Organizations.

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated is an American multinational health insurance and services company based in Minnetonka, Minnesota. Offering insurance products under UnitedHealthcare, and health care services and care delivery aided by technology and data under Optum, it is the world's eleventh-largest company by revenue and the largest health care company by revenue.

Hawaii Medical Service Association (HMSA) is a nonprofit health insurer in the state of Hawaii. HMSA was founded in 1938, is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, and is the largest insurer in the state of Hawaii serving more than 700,000 people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blue Cross Blue Shield Association</span> Federation of 36 separate United States health insurance organizations and companies

Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, also known as BCBS, BCBSA, or The Blues, is a United States-based federation with 34 independent and locally-operated BCBSA companies that provide health insurance in the United States to more than 115 million people as of 2022.

Cambia Health Solutions is a nonprofit health care company based in Portland, Oregon. It is the parent company of Regence, a member of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association operating in Oregon, Idaho, Utah, and Washington; Asuris Northwest Health; BridgeSpan Health; and LifeMap.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blue Shield of California</span> American mutual benefit corporation

Blue Shield of California is a mutual benefit corporation and health plan founded in 1939 by the California Medical Association. It is based in Oakland, California, and serves 4.5 million health plan members and more than 65,000 physicians across the state. Blue Shield of California was founded as a not-for-profit organization. As of 2014, it is no longer tax-exempt in California and has been paying federal taxes for several years before that.

Utilization management (UM) or utilization review is the use of managed care techniques such as prior authorization that allow payers, particularly health insurance companies, to manage the cost of health care benefits by assessing its appropriateness before it is provided using evidence-based criteria or guidelines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Health care in Australia</span> Availability, funding, and provision of health services in Australia

Health care in Australia operates under a shared public-private model underpinned by the Medicare system, the national single-payer funding model. State and territory governments operate public health facilities where eligible patients receive care free of charge. Primary health services, such as GP clinics, are privately owned in most situations, but attract Medicare rebates. Australian citizens, permanent residents, and some visitors and visa holders are eligible for health services under the Medicare system. Individuals are encouraged through tax surcharges to purchase health insurance to cover services offered in the private sector, and further fund health care.

Noridian Mutual Insurance Company is an insurer headquartered in Fargo, North Dakota, United States. It offers health, dental, and life insurance, under several brands, including Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Dakota, which is the largest health insurance provider in the state of North Dakota, with a 96% market share in 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dana Goldman</span>

Dana Paul Goldman is the dean of the USC Price School of Public Policy, Leonard D. Schaeffer Chair and director of the University of Southern California Leonard D. Schaeffer Center for Health Policy and Economics, and Professor of Public Policy, Pharmacy, and Economics at the Price School and USC School of Pharmacy. He is also an adjunct professor of health services and radiology at UCLA, and a managing director and founding partner, along with Darius Lakdawalla and Tomas J. Philipson, at Precision Heath Economics, a health care consulting firm. Previously held positions include the director of the Bing Center for Health Economics, RAND Royal Center for Health Policy Simulation, and UCLA/RAND Health Services Research Postdoctoral Training Program.

Medical Mutual of Ohio (MMOH) is an American mutual health insurance company. It is the oldest and largest health insurance company based in Cleveland, Ohio, and serves more than 1.6 million customers. Employing 2,500 people, Medical Mutual is one of the biggest employers in downtown Cleveland.

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama (BCBSAL) is a nonprofit health insurance company headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama. The company was founded in 1936, provides coverage to more than 3 million people and is a member of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association (BCBS). BCBSAL employs nearly 5,000 people, which includes almost 3,500 people at its corporate headquarters in Birmingham. The company also operates Cahaba Government Benefit Administrators and Cahaba Safeguard Administrators, both headquartered in Birmingham. It commands over 90 percent of the health insurance market in Alabama, a state with half a million uninsured people, one of the highest uninsured rates in the nation at 10 percent of the population.

Healthcare in the United States is largely provided by private sector healthcare facilities, and paid for by a combination of public programs, private insurance, and out-of-pocket payments. The U.S. is the only developed country without a system of universal healthcare, and a significant proportion of its population lacks health insurance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elevance Health</span> American healthcare company

Elevance Health, Inc. is an American health insurance provider. Prior to June 2022, Elevance Health was named Anthem, Inc. The company's services include medical, pharmaceutical, dental, behavioral health, long-term care, and disability plans through affiliated companies such as Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield, Anthem Blue Cross in California, Wellpoint, and Carelon. It is the largest for-profit managed health care company in the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association. As of 2022, the company had 46.8 million members within its affiliated companies' health plans.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">California Health Care Foundation</span>

Based in Oakland, California, the California Health Care Foundation (CHCF) is an independent, nonprofit philanthropy that focuses on improving the health care system for the people of California, especially low-income Californians. The organization has three main goals: improving access to coverage and care, promoting high-value care, and investing in people, knowledge, and networks that help to make meaningful change possible in California’s health care system.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wellmark Blue Cross Blue Shield</span>

Wellmark Blue Cross Blue Shield is a mutual insurance in the United States with more than two million members in Iowa and South Dakota. It is the dominant health insurance in Iowa. It is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association. Founded in 1939, Wellmark offers dental and health insurance as well as life insurance. It began participating in the health care exchange for 2017.

CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield is a health insurance provider serving 3.5 million individuals and groups in Maryland and the Washington metropolitan area. It has dual headquarters in Baltimore, Maryland and Washington, D.C. It is a nonprofit organization and an independent licensee of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association.

Maine Community Health Options v. United States, 590 U.S. ___ (2020), was a United States Supreme Court case involving the expired Risk Corridors program of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), through which the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) mitigated losses of unprofitable healthcare plans through the profits of the profitable plans during the first three years of the program. Congress had passed legislation as riders in appropriations bills, which prevented the government from making payments to the unprofitable plans. Several of the insurers went bankrupt from the lack of payment, and multiple insurers sued the government to recover their funds on the basis the risk corridor was a commitment to be paid. The Federal Circuit Appeals Court rejected those claims, concluding that the subsequent appropriation riders absolved the government of its responsibility to pay. In the 8–1 decision that consolidated three of the subsequent appeals, the Supreme Court ruled that Congress's riders did not cancel the government's obligation under the ACA to pay the full amount to the unprofitable plans, and that the insurers had properly sought relief through a Tucker Act action in the Court of Federal Claims.

References

  1. "Blue Cross Blue Shield Of Michigan And Blue Care Network Approved To Offer 44 Individual Health Plans In Michigan For Third-Annual Open Enrollment Period". Blue Cross Blue Shield Association. October 14, 2015.
  2. "2013 Senate Bill 61". MichiganVotes. Retrieved 2024-03-22.
  3. "BCBS Michigan finally becoming a nonprofit mutual". Healthcare Finance News. Retrieved 2024-03-22.
  4. "Why You Benefit from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan's Structure as a Nonprofit Mutual Insurer". MI Blues Perspectives. 2024-02-27. Retrieved 2024-03-22.
  5. Enos, Gary (2019-08-05). "Michigan Centers Sue Blue Cross Over Payment Cuts, Rash of Denials | Behavioral Healthcare Executive". behavioral.net. Retrieved 1 September 2019.
  6. Samilton, Tracy (2019-08-30). "Dramatic expansion coming for program that helps seriously mentally ill in northern Michigan". michiganradio.org. Retrieved 1 September 2019.