Editorials

Blue Cross
Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Massachusetts, which is among the suitors for the financially troubled Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island, has said it would make its offer public, angering local Blue Cross officials. Rhode Island Blue Cross has said it would neither negotiate nor debate the health insurer’s sale in public.

While public disclosure always has the sweet sound of reason, it sometimes is not the appropriate course. In merger or acquisition talks rarely do we see public negotiations.

We suspect there is much more to the decision than simply an initial offer. There are personality and management issues, job retention, the financial ability of a particular suitor to maintain the operations here, history of operations, and much more.

We can’t ignore the political players in this. Massachusetts Blue Cross has hired George Caruolo, former House Majority Leader, as its lawyer here, with rumors that some substantial Massachusetts politicians are behind the Massachusetts Blue Cross effort.

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We also can’t ignore the history of Massachusetts Blue Cross, which not so long ago was also financially troubled. That is not to discount Massachusetts Blue Cross as a serious suitor, but to underscore how much more may be involved in the decision than just an initial offer.

If the concern is that Rhode Islanders have much at stake in this, the marketplace will take care of that. We agree that with Blue Cross employing 1,500 Rhode Islanders, and being the state’s largest health insurer, what happens in this merger or acquisition will have a profound effect on the state.

However, we also believe that whatever the new entity is, it must remain competitive with the other health insurers or risk losing its share of the market.

 

Health care summit
The latest round of layoffs at Lifespan, the debate over the sale of Blue Cross of Rhode Island, and controversy over closed pharmaceutical groups, all again point to the need for a statewide health care summit.

Previously our calls for such a summit met with deaf ears in most quarters, but brought support from individuals and at least one major hospital.

We believe health care providers and professionals need to meet to exchange ideas, and try to bring order and understanding to what appears to be a system in chaos.

What is the real story behind the pharmaceutical freedom of choice bill? Will a dominant Lifespan mean more layoffs, less care for Rhode Islanders or more efficiency and better quality? Are the objections to for-profit health care organizations valid? Is it important who eventually buys Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Rhode Island? And

We call upon the administration of Gov. Lincoln Almond to bring together the major health care players to answer some of the perpexling questions revolving around health care, and to develop an overall vision for our state’s health care industry.

Leadership
The Stakeholders process is at an end, and it would appear the end is not all that far from the beginning. The differences that existed in opinions relative to the scope of a commercial port at Quonset/Davisville remain, with no clear plan of action, only a set of opinions as varied as they were from the outset.

The outcome is not surprising. Put a large group of diverse individuals representing different organizations, with different expectations, and allow them to brainstorm for several months and the lack of consensus is predictable.

Had the process begun with a proposal that the parties would debate and modify, maybe it would have resulted in something more concrete than what evolved.

The fear now, of course, is that we have forced a much more time consuming process that in itself may eclipse the time shipping lines have to choose their favored ports.

Leadership requires taking risks, putting forth a proposal to be debated, modified and eventually enacted in some form. While the administration failed to seize that role initially, it needs to now. The Almond administration should put forth a specific port proposal to be debated where necessary and enacted in its present or some modified form – or discarded because a port is not considered an economically and environmentally sound investment. Whatever happens must be done in a timely fashion.

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