031626 ~ Supporting Peoples’ Best Health - Andy Hetzel

Our next guest joins us every week on the show. Let's say hello to Andy Hetzel from Blue Cross Blue

Shield of Michigan. And every week is a privilege for me to talk to your listeners about health care

issues because they affect all of us. Well, we appreciate your insight in that regard. Andy,

health care costs are putting the squeeze on Michigan's businesses and families and health

insurance rates are climbing. Some by 20% or more this year. Can you talk about how we get from

where we are to more affordable health insurance? Absolutely because the last thing we want to do

at Blue Cross is continue to increase those prices on our best customers and we understand the

squeeze that that puts on businesses and people all across our state. But let me start with the

basic fact health insurance costs are downstream in the cost equation. They reflect dramatically

increasing health care costs upstream. That's a good analogy. Anybody who has been on a river knows

that what enters upstream ultimately flows downstream. That's exactly right. And when we consider

that medical care costs have risen by 40% faster than the prices of other common consumer goods

or that list prices for new specialty drugs can be hundreds of thousands of dollars per patient.

You can get an idea of the upstream cost pressures that are impacting downstream health insurance

costs right now. Andy, what is Blue Cross doing to provide solutions? Everything we can,

Lucian, but the most important thing is to support people's best possible health.

Truth is our health care system is expensive. The more we use it, multiplied by millions of us,

the more pressure that puts on health insurance prices downstream. So the most important thing

is staying as healthy as possible. Yes, Lucian, and that's why Blue Cross provides many no-cost

preventive care services in our health plans. Things like well visits to the doctor and immunizations

covered at 100%. We also provide 24-7 access to registered nurses for consultations.

If our members have a chronic condition, we offer support to help them manage it successfully.

And for the broader community, including people without health insurance, we are the largest

private funder of Michigan's network of free clinics. This strengthens our safety net and

prevents very serious health conditions among uninsured Michiganers. Wow, that's an impressive

amount of support that Blue Cross provides, Andy. And it's only the tip of the iceberg. At Blue Cross,

we are constantly working to promote our members' best possible health. And your listeners can

learn a whole lot more online at mibluedaley.com slash affordability. Such a great site,

mibluedaley.com slash affordability. Andy, thank you so much. Thank you for the time, Lucian.

Andy Hetzel with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan.