Blue Cross chafes at high ranking on 'political' list. (Health Care).WELLPOINT Noun 1. wellpoint - a perforated tube driven into the ground to collect water from the surrounding area well point tube, tubing - conduit consisting of a long hollow object (usually cylindrical) used to hold and conduct objects or liquids or gases Health Networks Inc. is among the nation's top health insurers, as measured by its growth in earnings, enrollees and stock price. But its California California (kăl'ĭfôr`nyə), most populous state in the United States, located in the Far West; bordered by Oregon (N), Nevada and, across the Colorado River, Arizona (E), Mexico (S), and the Pacific Ocean (W). subsidiary is near the top of another list it would like to be off. Blue Cross of California ranks among the state's top for-profit health plans with the lowest medical loss ratios, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. the California Medical Association's recently released summary of health plan expenditures. A low loss ratio sounds good, right? Not necessarily, if you're a doctor or enrollee. The medical loss ratio measures the percentage of each premium dollar spent on medical care after administration and income is subtracted. Blue Cross paid out 76.4 percent of its revenue for medical care during fiscal year 2000-2001. The only full-service insurer An individual or company who, through a contractual agreement, undertakes to compensate specified losses, liability, or damages incurred by another individual. An insurer is frequently an insurance company and is also known as an underwriter. to pay out less was One Health Plan of California, a small plan with just 87,500 enrollees that paid out 66.6 percent. This means that all other plans spent more on medical care. The Blue Cross subsidiary of Thousand Oaks-based WellPoint is California's second largest health plan with 4.1 million enrollees -- and notorious for throwing its weight around with health care providers during contract negotiations. The CMA CMA - Concert Multithread Architecture from DEC. has published the rankings for nine years now, it claims, as a public service. "We believe the plans that spend more on health care have healthier consumers," says Steve Thompson Steve Thompson or Steven Thompson may be:
A Blue Cross spokesman called the report an "exercise in futility Futility See also Despair, Frustration. American Scene, The portrays Americans as having secured necessities; now looking for amenities. [Am. Lit.: The American Scene] Babio performs the useless and supererogatory. [Fr. " aimed at driving the CMA's political agenda. "This has been going on for nine years now and no one can figure out the math. Their numbers are wrong, and they do not take into account the taxes that we pay," said spokesman Michael Chee. Chee could not provide numbers for Blue Cross, but said that WellPoint's entire business had a medical loss ratio closer to 82 percent. Whatever the case, Blue Cross is not alone among local insurers. Right behind in terms of low medical loss ratios is Molina Healthcare of California, the privately-held, for-profit insurer based in Long Beach. It paid out 77.1 percent of its premium dollar for medical care. Staff reporter Laurence Darmiento can be reached at (323) 549-5225 ext. 237, or at ldarmiento@labusinessjournal.com. |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion