A Call for Regence to Become Accountable
Regence’s actions are more consistent with a for-profit hedge fund
Singapore, with a population slightly larger than that of Oregon, has better health access for all its citizens, spends less than half of what we do, has better health outcomes and people live longer and healthier lives.
In light of this, I fail to understand the logic of what Regence is doing lately. It is well documented (including previous articles by The Lund Report) that they have tried to defeat changes in Oregon such as their behavior in unsuccessfully trying to defeat our most recent legislative initiatives.
However if your article “Regence Wants Slow Approach on Reform” is accurate, Regence is taking actions more consistent with a “hedge fund for profit at any cost” rather than the largest not-for-profit health insurer in Oregon and the Pacific Northwest.
Historically, BlueCross BlueShield --- now Regence – was a reasonable and valued community-oriented organization. When I was vice president of Kaiser Permanente’s Health Plan and chaired the Oregon Health Council 20 years ago, I respected and admired what they did for Oregonians.
Now it is difficult to understand how this Oregon not-for-profit health plan can be against the need to genuinely improve and reform healthcare in this country. This just say "no" or “dynamic reaction” approach is consistent with a policy that denies many Oregonians healthcare coverage because of pre-existing conditions.
Regence is also increasing individual health premium rates by 16 percent starting April 1 after asking insurance officials for an ever higher rate – 25.3 percent. Regence also lobbied against legislative initiatives that passed in spite of Regence’s opposition. This legislation that voters passed will bring additional federal health matching dollars into Oregon’s frail economy.
Regence – please say it isn’t so! Give us some credible vision of your plan to improve healthcare access, outcomes and cost effectiveness so we can understand your goals for healthcare in 2010.
Regence -- I hope you do have a vision that helps citizens of Oregon who have supported you for years. Let us know why you continue to deserve tax exemptions as a not-for-profit and why our employers should continue to offer your insurance. Former activists like me still want you to succeed. But honestly, my patience is wearing thin with your recently reported action. I suspect others might have similar impressions. We’ll be watching and waiting.
Michael Leahy is a visiting associate professor of health sciences at Linfield College at its Portland campus.
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I wouldn't call Professor Leahy's comments cynical. The change in tone of The Regence Group's approach to policy and doing business under its current top leadership is real, and Leahy draws the contrast well compared to earlier years and the "old" BlueCross BlueShield of Oregon before Regence, and during its early years under Dick Woolworth's leadership as CEO. Sure, the executives were well paid in those years too--but at least within the envelope commonly viewed as appropriate for a taxable nonprofit health insurance company in the BlueCross BlueShield Association nationally. Now we see CEO pay in the two million a year range and local presidents' and Regence senior/executive VPs' pay in the million dollar range, higher by far than earlier days as recent as the early 2000s. Federal regulators may soon be looking at executive compensation at Regence as to whether it is within the bounds acceptable for nonprofit designation (see previous Lund Report articles.) And we see Regence advocacy in the regulatory and legislative realm that reminds me of the big banks, and their desire to have no barriers placed in the way of making money--even at the expense of major health needs in the communities served (read: the opposition to recent ballot measures). See this link to MIT economist Simon Johnson's recent post about the dominance of capital over other values, and see if it reminds you of this discussion at least a bit:
http://baselinescenario.com/2010/02/18/capital-controls-again/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed:+BaselineScenario+(The+Baseline+Scenario)
Yes, large nonprofit health plans are fundamentally financial organizations in character and few of them don't show that in their activities. But there are degrees of that behavior over a rather wide range.
Professor Leahy: Your surprise and outrage seems cynical. As the recipient of Regence BC/BS mailings, contracts and missives over the years, I realized several years ago that just because you call yourself not-for-profit, does not mean that you are not run by profit-making executives. It just implies how you pay your taxes. Regence is still part of the larger insurance cartel, and they still have carry-over reserves...which most companies would then distribute as profit to their share-holders.
You are correct that Singapore has better, cheaper, and more accessible healthcare than Oregon. So do most of the ex-Soviet satellites, and all of the EU. What is different here is that the statistics about longevity and infant mortality are ignored by our leaders and opinion-makers.
Ever thought of proposing that Singapore, or the Taiwanese or the Swiss be asked to run the OHP? or maybe Medicare itself?
DocsWitt
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