HEALTH PROPOSAL CHEERED\Blue Cross unveils plan to boost care to uninsured.Byline: Dawn Yoshitake Daily News Staff Writer Blue Cross of 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). announced a revised proposal Tuesday Tuesday: see week. to create a $3 billion health foundation - erasing consumer fears that a failed merger would sharply reduce the charity's funds. The foundation is designed to increase access to health care for Californians without insurance and offer a variety of health services health services Managed care The benefits covered under a health contract and education. "It looks like a big win for the people of California," said Judith Judith [Heb.,=Jewess], early Jewish book included in the Septuagint, but not included in the Hebrew Bible, and placed in the Apocrypha of Protestant Bibles. It recounts an attack on the Jews by an army led by Holofernes, Nebuchadnezzar's general. Bell, co-director of Consumers Union, a San Francisco-based advocacy group. State regulations require a nonprofit A corporation or an association that conducts business for the benefit of the general public without shareholders and without a profit motive. Nonprofits are also called not-for-profit corporations. Nonprofit corporations are created according to state law. health care organization to transfer all its assets to a charitable foundation when converting to a for-profit operation. Woodland Hills-based Blue Cross had pledged $3.2 billion as part of the proposed merger of its subsidiary, WellPoint Health Networks Inc., and cross-street rival Health Systems International Inc. But the merger was called off in December as top executives of WellPoint and HSI (Hue Saturation Intensity) A color space similar to HSB. See HSB. fought for control over what would have been the nation's largest publicly traded, managed health care company. And with it went the foundation proposal. Before the merger was announced in March, Blue Cross was considering giving $2.4 billion to the foundation. But WellPoint's escalating stock value has resulted in a higher funding level. "This historic transaction establishes a public benefit health care legacy created by Blue Cross of California," chairman Leonard Schaeffer said in a statement. Consumer groups were pleased that many of the details in Blue Cross' new proposal reflect the plan state regulators had approved under the merger. Bell said the revised proposal has some improvements over the previous one that her organization had sought, such as additional independent directors and fewer Blue Cross board members on the foundation boards. Under the current proposal, Blue Cross will use a foundation to sell WellPoint's stock and transfer the proceeds to a second foundation that will offer health services to Californians. Eighty percent of the proceeds from the stock sale will go to the second foundation and the remainder will stay with the first to cover operating expenses Operating expenses The amount paid for asset maintenance or the cost of doing business, excluding depreciation. Earnings are distributed after operating expenses are deducted. . |
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