What we're seeing now -- Anthem Blue Cross and others -- is something on an exponential magnitude of what we had seen in the past, even in that increase.
When, in mid-afternoon, the sun dips behind the mountain and my skis suddenly criss-cross ice-blue shadows, I am reminded of the more sinister snippets of local folklore my hosts have passed on: the wizard Fida, who lived in a cave above the valley and sold his soul to the devil, and the evil little spirits, parkeljni, who rattle their chains as they lie in wait for naughty children.
Executives in blue jeans sit cross-legged on the floor, surrounded by big boy toys like 3D printers and large tables with Exacto knives and foam core for people to congregate and make fast, rough prototypes.
Nike released 500 limited edition blue and orange Tim Tebow cross-trainers last year and the shoes sold out online in five minutes.
And Blue Cross is usually the low-cost provider in every market.
FORBES: Consumer Reports Ranks HMOs--Not Helpful If You Live In Wrong State
The Department of Health and Human Services has identified a small-group policy offered by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Georgia as the model for Georgia.
"Fearful of the outcome, King Angus led prayers for deliverance and was rewarded by seeing a cloud formation of a white Saltire - the diagonal cross against which Saint Andrew had been martyred - against a clear blue sky, " writes Mr Reid.
No longer would they be able to arbitrarily and massively raise premiums like Anthem Blue Cross recently tried to do in California -- up to 39 percent increases in one year in the individual market.
Blue Cross doesn't have spare equipment on-site, however, and Ackermann acknowledges that obtaining new equipment from suppliers may take a while.
But when Gordian announced its sale to Blue Cross Blue Shield of Tennessee , a not-for-profit health insurance company, in August 2005, Smith was shocked.
The Affordable Care Act brings sweeping changes to the health insurance industry with most large plans like Wellpoint and their family of Blue Cross plans competing to provide quality and price-competitive benefit plans on state-regulated exchanges to offer benefits to millions of uninsured Americans when subsidies for individuals and small businesses kick in in 2014.
FORBES: Wellpoint's Braly Broke Glass Ceiling, Then Shards of Obamacare Knocked Her Down
But the sizzle can enliven its musty mainline business of running computer systems, call centers and data-entry operations for the likes of ChevronTexaco and Blue Cross Blue Shield.
Insurance companies like UnitedHealth Group (UNH), Aetna (AET), Humana (HUM), Cigna (CI) and Blue Cross plans having been aggressively moving to contract with medical-care providers through ACOs.
Some Blues plans like Blue Cross of California, amid financial problems, became for-profit and took to the public markets in the 1990s, creating today what is known as Wellpoint (WLP), which operates plans under the Blues or Anthem Blue Cross brands in more than a dozen states.
Just last month, Anthem Blue Cross in California tried to jack up rates by nearly 40 percent -- 40 percent.
He showed up at four one morning at the mission-control-like center where EDS hosts networks for 4, 000 clients -- everything from 7-Eleven's ordering system to data processing for millions of Blue Cross customers.
Earlier this week, the New York Times followed up on a story the newspaper wrote about a year ago that featured an effort by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois that is achieving some success in how it pays a Chicago-based healthcare system.
FORBES: Doctors Rush To Obamacare's Accountable Care Approach
In January 2014, private insurance companies like UnitedHealth Group (UNH), Aetna (AET), Humana (HUM), Cigna (CI) and a host of Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans will be providing subsidized coverage to individuals and small businesses via state or federally-regulated exchanges established under the health law.
They just had -- some of you saw the news -- for people who don't have insurance through a big employer, the individual market, in California one of the biggest insurance providers, Anthem Blue Cross, just announced that they were going to raise rates on these folks by up to 39 percent -- up to 39 percent.
应用推荐