As we were saying in our last blog entry, the health insurance industry has largely become a collection of predators who make a fortune off Americans’ bad fortune. One of the worst of the breed, Bob Greczyn, announced that he would retire next year from his job as CEO of Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina. You might remember Greczyn from his role in creating lie-filled ads against health care reform, as well as his failed attempt to change BCBSNC from a non-profit to a for-profit company. His failure in that venture doesn’t seem to have hurt Greczyn too badly, however, since the “non-profit” CEO raked in $3.9 million in pay last year. That’s right – nearly 4 million bucks for the head of a health insurance company that has jacked up its rates, denied coverage to patients in need, and worked against a federal plan to reduce premiums. Like I said, predators.
Greczyn’s successor at BCBSNC will be the company’s current COO, J. Bradley Wilson, who, the company PR folks tell us, is “committed to improving the lives of North Carolinians.” I feel warm and fuzzy already. Despite Wilson’s “commitment,” however, don’t expect BCBSNC to lower rates or cover everyone equally, unless they’re forced to by the federal government.
This article appears in Oct 13-20, 2009.
