One of the clearest indications that Blue Shield cares more about what’s best for their business than for the public is their plan to spend $1.25 billion to acquire another health insurer. Remember, because of Blue Shield’s status as a nonprofit, all of the assets they hold are supposed to be used exclusively to further the nonprofit mission of Blue Shield, which is to improve public access to healthcare. Blue Shield claims that because the insurer they intend to buy, Care1st Health Plan, serves primarily Medi-Cal enrollees, the acquisition serves their nonprofit mission by putting them in the business of serving low-income Californians. It’s seems awfully convenient, though, that Blue Shield came to the conclusion that buying its way into Medi-Cal would support its nonprofit mission only now, after healthcare reform subsidies have turned Medi-Cal into a booming business. The insurance ratings agency, A.M. Best, just issued a report on Blue Shield that leaves no doubt about the motive for the acquisition: “[t]his acquisition is in line with the organization's strategic growth initiatives and positions Blue Shield to further increase its enrollment, revenue and earnings base.” http://tinyurl.com/mmx4r3w Clearly, Blue Shield can’t be trusted to put the billions of dollars in community assets they hold to work for the benefit of the public. Let’s ramp up the pressure on them to give the money back to the public. Ask your friends to sign the petition at http://ctt.ec/3eb04+