Monday, May 20, 2013

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Big changes for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Michigan
Posted: 03.18.2013 at 5:01 AM
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Blue Cross will contribute nearly $1.6 billion over 18 years to an endowment working to improve public health and health care access.

Gov. Rick Snyder is poised to sign legislation overhauling Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan.

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DETROIT (AP) -- Gov. Rick Snyder is poised to sign legislation overhauling Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan.

The bill lets the state's largest health insurer transform into a customer-owned nonprofit and ends its tax-exempt status. The Republican governor plans to sign the legislation Monday at a meeting of the company's board of directors in Detroit.

Supporters say the insurer must be modernized as it prepares for the federal health law and to participate in an online exchange where the uninsured can shop for insurance.

Critics say the bill is bad news for seniors because subsidies for their supplemental Medicare policies will eventually end. As part of the overhaul, Blue Cross will contribute nearly $1.6 billion over 18 years to an endowment working to improve public health and health care access.

 

(Copyright ©2013 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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