Bruce C. McKinney
October 13, 2007
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Smoking
 Effective July 1, 2010: Tobacco Cessation Component
▪ If you are in the 80/20 program you must attest that you do
not use tobacco products
▪ Or enroll in a cessation program (certification from physician
needed)
▪ BC/BS will randomly test people with a saliva test in their
workplace
▪ If you fail you or refuse test, you and your family will be
bumped to the 70/30 plan (with higher co-pays, co-insurance,
and deductibles)
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Obesity
 Effective July 1, 2011: Weight Management
Component
2
▪ Must have a BMI less than 40 kg/m or
▪ Be enrolled in a weight management program or a certified
medical condition that prevents attaining BMI target
▪ The BMI will be reduced to 35 in 2012
▪ Members will be randomly tested at their worksite
▪ If they fail or refuse, members and their families will be
moved to the 70/30 program (with higher co-pays, coinsurance, and deductibles)
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To implement this program, BC/BS has elected to
exempt the State Health from HIPPA (Health
Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) rules
prohibiting discrimination against individuals based
on:
 Health status
 Mental illnesses
 And others
 HIPPA was created by HHS for the “security and privacy of
health care data”
Notice to Plan Members:
A federal law known as the Health Insurance Portability and
Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), Public Law 104-191, as amended, sets
forth certain requirements for group health plans. HIPAA also permits
state and local governmental employers that sponsor health plans to elect
to exempt their plan from these requirements for any part of the plan that
is “self-funded” by the employer, rather than provided through a health
insurance policy. The State Health Plan is self-funded. In order to
implement its comprehensive wellness initiative, the State of North
Carolina has elected to exempt the State Health Plan from the HIPAA rules
prohibiting discrimination against individual participants and beneficiaries
based on health status related factors, including health status, medical
condition (physical and mental illnesses), claims experience, receipt of
health care, insurability, and disability
http://www.shpnc.org/comp-wellness.html
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UNCW NC BC/BS Family Monthly Premiums
 $533 (8.9% increase over last year)
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Let’s take a look at our neighbors:
 Note that these are very similar programs without
excessively high deductibles or co-pays
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Virginia $116 (employee only $12)
Tennessee $253* (employee only $101)
Georgia $393 (employee only $136)
South Carolina $147* (employee only $47)
*Have BC/BS programs at significantly lower rates
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And some other states:
 California $146
 Connecticut $115
 Indiana $76
 Missouri $294
 Nevada $160
 Ohio $205
 Wisconsin $412
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According to Fox news (????) health insurance
companies in the US have experienced a 350%
increase in profits in the last 15 years
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BC/BS is supposed to be a non-profit company
2006 $190 million in profits
2008 $186 million (WRAL)
BC/BS CEO Bob Greczyn salary is between $3 and
$4 million with increases of 261% since 2000,
and a 23% raise in 2007 from 2008
And we lost the 90/10
Greczyn received a $3 million bonus in 2008
(WRAL)
 Whirpool CEO $3.2 million
 UPS CEO 3.1 million
 GlaxoSmithKline CEO $5.4 million
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Late breaking news:
 Greczyn to step down in 2010
 Greczyn has been a vocal critic of health care
reform
 BC/BS will not disclose how much they have spent
on advertisements demonizing health care reform
▪ We should demand that they do
 Greczyn will be replaced by Brad Wilson. In 2008
he received a 32% pay raise from 2007
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Organize Faculty Senate Presidents
Join with Staff Council
We can clearly do better without BC/BS
Faculty and Staff’s Health should NOT BE COVERED BY THE
HIGHEST BIDDER
These are LIFE and DEATH decisions
We need options like South Carolina—why don’t we have
any??????
Why have our legislators failed us?
The status quo is not acceptable
My efforts in contacting BC/BS
 “Individual responses will not be possible. If you have specific benefit
questions, you may contact Customer Service at 1-888-234-2416.”
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We need nominations!!!