Allow me to congratulate the board of directors of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts for its part in continuing to support the public’s mistrust of all things that emanate from the boardroom. Board members have voted to reinstate their own compensation. The move comes nearly two years after the state’s largest health insurer suspended board compensation in response to Attorney General Martha Coakley’s push for health care nonprofits to end pay for board members.
But don’t worry — Blue Cross’s board did not make this move on a whim. According to spokesperson Jay McQuaide, the board did this only after undertaking a two-year process to strengthen its “governance practices to make sure they are in line with best practices.” I feel better now. That completely erases the fact that these are many of the same people that voted in 2010 to reward the insurer’s outgoing CEO an $11 million golden parachute after the company posted a $149 million loss.
Comments
BC/BS of MA is not a publically traded corporation and as such its organizational and executive governance should be judged by a different set of values and standards. What concerns most people about the BCBS board is the overly politicized make-up. It doesn’t take an extensive investigation to connect the dots on the intertwined political relationships among most members. Over the years it has paved the way for other politically connected people to land cushy jobs within the bloated management ranks as well (current BRA director Peter Meade being one). The size of the board is also concerning. 17 seats seem large, unless of course you need to accommodate friends.
The real solution is Medicare for all.
Indeed cordgrass, there is absolutely zero value added to the system by private health insurers, non-profit or not.
Directors of Masachusets Non-profits should not receive a "salary", but might be compensated with $1000, or $500, per board meeting and allowed to submit requests for expenses incurred for the non-profit. Such requests should be eyed strictly and stringently by the Non-profit Treasurer and any monies allowed should be reported quarterly to the Office Of Public Charities of the Secretary of State. All expenses and meeting fes shall be reviewed annually by reviewers of the Office of Public Charities for appropriateness. Any inappropriate activity should be publicized immediately, and fines imposed when approptiate. All such reports should be completely transparent, available to the public and newspapers. The comment by cordgrass is correct. The best long-term solution is to migrate to single-payer, universal coverage, similar to the current Medicare and Veterans Affairs organizations, where annual overhead / management expenses are ca. 2%, rather than the typical 27% in the current private-insurer markets. The best person in the US to lead us into this better future is Dr. Donald M. Berwick, former temporary Director of CMSS, whom the Congressional Republicans blackballed ignominiously in 2011. They are the same people who do not believe in global warming.
Funny how the nonprofit world increasingly profits some, including these self-important directors at BC/BS of MA. If you want your stomach to churn even more, read Steven Brill's brilliant Time magazine article on nonprofit hospitals and their gigantic profits and the huge salaries for the top people.
MAybe MA could tax NP board income in excess of $1500 a year at 75%