Health care for all unaffordable? The Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan CEO Makes $52,700 A Day - Every Day of The Year

Have you or a loved one been hit with a serious health care issue? 

If so, did it put a hurt on your financial situation?

Do you receive regular requests to help someone who is sick pay their bills?

Have you ever attended or contributed to a any effort designed to help pay medical bills?

Are you aware that the #1 of bankruptcy in the US is medical bills?

Are you aware that we are THE ONLY developed nation without Universal Health Care?

Do you know that people in other countries cannot believe the way we treat illness?

One of the recurring songs we get to hear in the discussion of Universal Health Care (or Medicare for All or National Health Insurance - pick your favorite name) is that we simply cannot afford it.

Milk shoots out my nose when I hear this tired, bullshit ridden trope.

Never mind that we live in one of the wealthiest countries on the planet. How about we boil it down to just the State of Michigan - where I live and where Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan insures about 4.3 million Michiganders - plus some more people in other states.

In 2018, Daniel Loepp, the CEO of BCBS of MI was paid a total of $19.2 dollars. His "regular" salary is 1.5 million, the rest is performance bonus and other things. Roughly speaking that is $52,700 a day. Every Day of The Year. When he got the job in 2006 he was paid a million a year. 

BC/BS CEO who gets paid $52,700 a day 365 days a year.

News flash - Daniel Loepp has not cured cancer nor has he perfected a form of brain surgery or performed some other medical miracle. He is the CEO of a "not for profit" health insurance provider. His CFO, Greg Sudduth, earned $285,647.00 in 2017 - in addition to his regular job. The 35 people who make up the Board of Directors earn an average of $161,605.00 a year for their service on the Board (they have other jobs, too). That comes to $5,656,175.00 or so.

If you see why I laugh at the thought that we "cannot afford healthcare for all" and if you are a BC/BS of MI policy holder and the fact that over $26 million in premium dollars go to make some people very comfortable - how about we tell BC/BS how we feel?  

Here are the various ways to do that:

BC/BS MI Facebook page is here: BCBS OF MICHIGAN FACEBOOK

Take a sec and let them know how you feel about these expenditures.

You can email BC/BS of MI at: help@bcbsm.com

How about we load up their in box with our feelings about regular people scrambling to pay for medical debt while the Top Dog swims in money.

Get Old Skool with a Phone Call to the Customer Service Line: 313-225-9000

Get REAL OLD SKOOL with a letter to Corporate HQ: 600 East Lafayette Blvd Detroit, MI 48226

One more Michigan tidbit - you remember when Governor Gretchen Whitmer declared single payer health care unfeasible for Michigan? Do you think it had anything to do with the fact that her dad was the CEO of BC/BS for 15 years? (They named a building after him next to the Corporate HQ at 500 E Lafayette.) Do you think the funds donated to her campaign from BC/BS had anything to do with her attitude? (see: https://www.metrotimes.com/news-hits/archives/2018/08/02/blue-cross-has-given-more-cash-to-whitmer-than-any-gov-candidate-in-past-decade) 

I am not opposed to someone making a lot of money. If I could wield a scalpel or came up with a cancer treatment, I would expect to benefit from it. Personally, I think someone making $52,700 every day while we have fundraisers for sick people is a giant load of horse shit. If you feel the same way, let BCBS of Michigan know.