Welcome Blue Ambassadors
BCBSA and the 38 locally-based, community-operated Blue Cross and Blue Shield companies are committed to working with the Administration, Congress and other stakeholders to implement recently enacted healthcare reform legislation on behalf of all Americans.
While the new legislation reflects many priorities BCBSA advocated—including preservation of the employer-based system, no new government-run health plan, state-based health insurance exchanges, linking guaranteed issue and community rating to an individual mandate and subsidies, and no new federal regulator of insurance rates, the new law presents many challenges. Much work remains to help navigate the new law and as Blue Ambassadors you will play a critical role. In building a better healthcare system where people live healthier lives, we must make fundamental changes to how care is delivered so that people don’t just have access to care, but that everyone receives the highest quality care—and we must bring healthcare spending in line with costs in other areas of our economy.
The Blue Ambassadors program offers you, a valued member of our Blue family, a framework to help inform policymakers about key issues that arise during implementation of the healthcare reform legislation, particularly on how they impact consumers, providers, and payers. While some key insurance provisions are already in effect, others will be implemented this year or in 2014.
If you are not already a Blue Ambassador, I urge you to join and add your voice. Our Blue Ambassadors site provides background information on the issues, as well as background materials to keep you informed, including:
- Fact sheets which you can use to inform others, including your lawmakers;
- Ways to easily communicate with policymakers on healthcare issues; and
- Periodic communications on key issues relating to healthcare.
Together, we can fight for a transformed healthcare system that provides people with the best, most affordable care possible.
Yours in good health,
Scott Serota
President and CEO
Health Reform Highlights
Paralyzed Patients Use Mind to Move Robotic Arm
CDC Lowers Lead-Poisoning Threshold for Kids
Plavix's New Generic Status Could Be Boon for Patients
Matter of Fact
- Over 160 million people (62 percent of the nonelderly) have employer coverage.
- 99 percent of large employers with 200 or more employees and 94 percent of firms with 50-199 employees offer coverage.
- Even among smaller firms, most employers offer coverage, including 90 percent of firms with 25-49 employees and 78 percent of firms with 10-24 workers.