Michigan Blue Cross Blue Shield customers rally for change

MARQUETTE, Mich. (WLUC) - A group of boycotters walked to the Blue Cross Blue Shield (BCBS) building in Marquette to deliver a letter and make themselves heard Tuesday.

According to rally participants, BCBS customers all over Michigan were sharing in the march against the healthcare provider. They want open floor policy meetings that are open to the public. They want healthcare transparency, along with healthcare for all.

Audrey Gerard, a Michigan United Healthcare for All organizer, said they chose Tuesday to rally because Wednesday is the day that Blue Cross Blue Shield celebrates all the money they’ve made for the prior fiscal year.

“We are here today to ask Blue Cross Blue Shield to stop denying claims, to stop being power hungry, to make sure that they’re covering the cost of people, and to stop making money off of sick people by denying them the healthcare that they need,” said Gerard.

Rally participants told stories of their own or their loved ones claims that have been denied by Blue Cross Blue Shield Michigan.

Andrew Hetzel, Michigan Blue Cross Blue Shield V.P. of Corporate Communications responded with this statement:

As a nonprofit mutual insurance company, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan pays an average of $80 million in claims per day, every day, to support our members’ care and benefits. These dollars also support our health care delivery system to keep access to quality health care available not just for our members, but for all the people in our state. Blue Cross is also the single largest private funder of Michigan’s free clinics. Since 2005, our company has invested over $18 million in grant funding to clinics providing free or low-cost health care for uninsured, underinsured and vulnerable Michigan residents. Each year, Blue Cross supports up to 50 safety net clinics that care for more than 60,000 Michigan patients. Blue Cross has an 84-year legacy as a trusted health care partner, providing access to high-quality, affordable care to all Michigan residents throughout the state, and that commitment will continue into the future.

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