Blue Cross dropping its contract with Healthways

Article by: STEVE ALEXANDER , Star Tribune
Updated: May 8, 2008 - 9:10 PM

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota has decided to in-source and expand its phone service for medical advice.

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digalvinMay. 9, 08 7:51 AM

privacy invasion & potential data security issues in the form of data mining is providing yet another revenue source & cost reducer for the insurance company but there is no mention of how this will provide real benefits to real "customers"....so now we might be getting nagging phone calls from our medical insurance provider? As if that'll help get people into the office or pharmacy?

ceallaigh1May. 9, 0810:06 AM

Big brother? The insurance company already has every scrap of medical information on you. They're only "mining" their own records. I'm involved in such a program and I love it. It doesn't cost me anything. A nurse calls me, makes sure I'm taking my medication, tells me what my disease can do to me if I don't take my medication and change my lifestyle, explains the differnt tests I have to have, etc.--things my doctor never takes the time to do. And one time I told her something I thought was inconsequential. She assured me it wasn't, told me to call my doctor and she sent a fax to my doctor telling him about it. It resulted in a medication change--she recognized my symptom as a side effect of a new medication I was taking. Yeah, the big bad insurance company gets something out of it--if people take better care of themselves it might mean fewer bills for costly complications down the line. But the people enrolled in the plan (it's voluntary) also benefit by living longer, healthier lives. That's a win-win.