RELEASE

Andrew Hetzel Discusses Health Reform and BCBSM's Commitment to Michigan Cities on WDET’s Craig Fahle Show

Sven Gustafson

| 2 min read

Tools like the health reform website and GlidePath solution can help employers prepare for changes coming under federal health care reform, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan spokesman Andrew Hetzel said during an appearance on metro Detroit's WDET-FM. The Craig Fahle Show, a local affairs program hosted on the Detroit public radio station, invited Hetzel to come behind the mic during the Mackinac Policy Conference last week for a show that aired June 6. Hetzel, the vice president of Corporate Communications for BCBSM, discussed how the company is helping employer groups prepare for the implementation of federal health care reform. He also updated listeners on the progress of moving 3,000 workers from the suburbs to downtown Detroit. An exerpt:
Hetzel: GlidePath is aligned with our longstanding support for business. And what it is, is it’s a set of analytic tools and some online tools that we’re piloting this year with some of our group customers. What we’re going to try to do is put them all together and launch them to the marketplace on Jan. 1 of next year. And what they’re going to allow group customers to do is plan for the implementation of health care reform. Fahle: Yes. Hetzel: Businesses have a lot of things to consider when it comes to how to structure benefits in a reform environment. There are a lot of considerations related to cost, the level of benefits provided and frankly, what their employees are looking for. A lot of employers are looking at defined contribution models, 401(k)-type models for financing health care that limit their own costs. That’s going to put a lot more pressure on employees as far as cost sharing is concerned. So businesses want analytic support from experts to be able to construct what’s best for their employees.
You can hear the rest of the segment here. The Craig Fahle Show airs Monday through Thursday from 10 a.m.-noon and again at 7-9 p.m., and on Fridays from 10 a.m.-11:30 a.m.
MI Blues Perspectives is sponsored by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, a nonprofit, independent licensee of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association