Daily Archives: July 13, 2007

Blue Cross to charge billing fees

It’s not enough that the U.S. health care system is already a major cluster you-know-what that over-charges millions, especially in California. Now Blue Cross reportedly wants to charge hundreds of thousands of Californians a $2 service fee every month to have their bills mailed to them.

Of the 7.5 million customers Blue Cross insures, 820,000 of them are Californians. Nick Garcia, Blue Cross of California spokesman, said the fees will be introduced in September. “Business costs don’t stay stagnant. “There have been increases in postage and paper costs” he said.

Part of the philosophy behind charging people is to get them to turn to electronic billing. It’ll be interesting to see how much more money they’ll make when they start selling your personal information and violating your privacy.

Health Net charges their 100,000 California members $5 a month in an effort to get them to switch to electronic billing as well. Switching to electronic billing eliminates the paper trail which is sometimes vital for record keeping.

Continue reading