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Date: Monday, June 10, 1996 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: HCFA Press Office(202)690-6145
Bruce C. Vladeck, administrator of the Health Care Financing Administration, announced today the selection of National Heritage Insurance Company (NHIC) as the new Medicare Part B carrier in California.
NHIC, a subsidiary of Electronic Data Systems, will assume the Medicare Part B workload of Blue Shield of California in northern California and the Riverside and San Bernardino counties in southern California. In FY 1995 Blue Shield of California processed 23.5 million claims and paid approximately $1.6 billion in benefits. HCFA announced in April that Blue Shield of California was not renewing its Medicare contract.
"I am especially pleased with the opportunity to do business with a new contractor," said Vladeck. NHIC is outside HCFA's current pool of contractors
NHIC will retain most of the Medicare employees currently employed by California Blue Shield and will take over California Blue Shield's offices in Chico and Marysville, California. The transition is expected to be complete by early 1997. This agreement is designed to protect the jobs of as many current employees as possible.
"Most of the current employees will be retained in order to guarantee a smooth transition," said Vladeck. "I want to assure both Medicare beneficiaries and health care providers in California that there will be no interruption in their Medicare services."
NHIC has 18 years of experience in providing customer service and assuring appropriate expenditures of health care dollars for large and complex public health care programs, including State Medicaid programs. Electronic Data Systems and its subsidiaries have more than 6000 employees dedicated to health care services.