blue cross and blue shield

Giant US for-profit insurance company/ managed care organization WellPoint has provided numerous examples of problems with the current way health care organizations are lead.  Here we discussed charges that recent rate increases by its Anthem subsidiary may have violated previous agreements not to directly fund from premiums the golden parachutes of executives who left after the merger of Anthem and WellPoint; that WellPoint used magical accounting to make administrative costs appear to be from

The US stock markets are at lows unseen for more than 10 years, unemployment is rising, around the world national deficits are increasing, and times are tough for ostensibly not-for-profit Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Massachusetts, the state's largest health care insurer/ managed care organization. Per the Boston Globe:

Blue Cross-Blue Shield's business was affected by the stock market decline, the recession, and the increasing cost of medical care.

In 2000, an important meeting took place between two men.

Here is the next story in what seems like an endless succession of prominent health care companies settling lawsuits alleging improper behavior, via the Minneapolis Star-Tribune:

Walgreens has paid the United States and Minnesota and three other states nearly $10 million to resolve allegations of falsely billing Medicaid, the U.S.

Justice Department announced Monday, with some of that money going to two Twin Cities pharmacists who turned in the industry giant.

Several related stories about commercial managed care organizations/ health insurers surfaced recently.

First, as reported by Lisa Girion in the Los Angeles Times,

A number of news items about managed care organizations/ health insurers published last week make for an interesting juxtaposition.

Innovative Physician Reimbursement?

First were articles about managed care proposals for innovative physician reimbursement.

First, from the Boston Globe, an article about a proposal to resurrect capitation.