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New CEO for Blue Cross Blue Shield

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts (BCBSMA) has chosen Andrew Dreyfus to become the new president and chief executive starting on 07 September 2010. Boston-based BCBSMA, which is the largest health insurer in the state, had been led by William C. Van Faasen as interim CEO, after the resignation of Cleve L. Killingsworth in March 2010.

Mr. Dreyfus is a veteran insurance executive who had served as executive vice president for healthcare services at BCBSMA for the past five years, he is 51 years old. Before joining Blue Cross in 2001, Mr. Dreyfus worked on healthcare in state government, through the Massachusetts Hospital Association, from where he commissioned a report that became the foundation for the healthcare law in the state. Mr Dreyfus currently spearheads the effort within BCBSMA to remunerate providers based on the value of their services, rather than volume.

At this point in time, the state of Massachusetts is facing rising healthcare costs, which have burdened businesses and consumers alike, as well as becoming an issue for insurers and healthcare providers.

In a recent announcement, Blue Cross Blue Shield reported a loss of US$14.3 million (EUR 11.2 million) in the first half of this year attributed in part to “inadequate premiums” due to the state rate cap in the SME business and individual markets. For the most part of this year, BCBSMA had been embroiled in a dispute over these state-imposed rate caps, before finally reaching a settlement with regulators earlier this month, agreeing to voluntarily limit its rate increases in the small-group market to single-digit increments for the rest of this year.

After the announcement for the new role of Mr. Dreyfus, he said in a statement that “Making healthcare affordable is, and will continue to be, our company’s highest priority.”

Insurance Company mentioned:

Blue Shield Blue Cross

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts is an Independent Licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. he Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association (BCBSA) is a national federation of 39 independent, community-based and locally operated Blue Cross and Blue Shield companies. Throughout our 80-year history, the 39 Blue Cross and Blue Shield companies have provided millions of families with top-quality, affordable health insurance. Today, the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Brands are registered in more than 170 countries.

Globalsurance International Health Insurance - Expat Medical insurance products for you and your family no matter where in the world you live.

Blue Cross Blue Shield Has Highest Brand Equity in USA Insurance

Blue Cross Blue Shield, the major American health insurance provider, has been rated as having the highest brand equity in the USA’s national insurance market according to a recent report released by Harris Interactive, a leading international market research company.

During Harris’ 2010 EquiTrend survey, the company found that Blue Cross Blue Shield has the highest brand equity in the industry. The report discovered that Aetna and United Healthcare rank second and third, respectively. This is the first year in which Harris Interactive has looked at the American Insurance industry during the annual study, which has previously been limited to major financial services companies.

The study follows in the wake of recent developments in the American health insurance market, including the recent legislation passed by President Obama in an attempt to reform healthcare in the USA. As such, American consumers are expected to be more discriminating with their choice of health insurance plan, which could be a major boon for Blue Cross Blue Shield in light of the company’s higher visibility in the market.

Insurance companies like Blue Cross Blue Shield, who have focused on, and actively managed their brand identities, will be better able to capitalize on the extraordinary influx of potential business in the coming months, according to Harris Interactive Vice President Debra Richman. However, Harris has also noticed an increasing trend of consumers switching to cheaper insurance cover from 2008 – 2009 with 11% of all health insurance purchasers, up 3% from the previous year, opting to obtain a plan that was less expensive.

This increase in price-conscious consumers means that despite Blue Cross Blue Shield having the most visible brand within the USA’s insurance industry, there may be more factors to consider than simply being noticeable; policy benefits, renewability, and international portability will all affect the decision of the aware consumer to purchase a medical insurance policy.

One of the reasons that Blue Cross Blue Shield may have the best brand equity within the US insurance market is due to their overwhelming market share. The company, its subsidiaries, and partners have the largest share of the health insurance market in 36 states according to a June 2009 survey released by the Center for American Progress.

With this type of domination in the market there is actually little choice for the consumer at the end of the day, which may be the key reason that Blue Cross Blue Shield has been rated as having the highest overall brand equity. However, with the passage of the recent healthcare reform bill some of the major concerns about overwhelming market share (such as inflated premiums, limited benefits, exclusions on pre-existing conditions, and low annual limits) have been negated.

As Harris Interactive has pointed out, brand equity is not the sole factor at work within the American medical insurance market, and concerns such as policy pricing will play an increasingly important role as the legislation’s reforms are rolled out through to 2014. With this in mind Blue Cross Blue Shield has some interesting decisions to make in the coming years. As domestic American health insurance policies start to differentiate themselves to a greater degree than they currently have, considerations such as Brand may be of limited significance to the consumer looking for more flexible benefits.