Blue Cross Pitches Itself Union Style

One of the greatest power of a union is it's ability to lobby as one voice for a large group of individuals. They are advocates for the best interest of their members on a broad scale. The union's activism does not stop at the bargaining table, just as their member's interests do not. Corporation too represent the interests of a group of individuals, their stockholders. Unlike unions they only have on express goal and that is increasing profits. Anything less and they are not fulfilling their legal obligations, which is why it is extremely curious to see this come out of the mouth of a Blue Cross of California's president Brian Sassi:

But Sassi said the firm has an obligation to “fix what is broken and leave the parts that are working well alone.”

“We have an obligation to the 8 million people we serve in California to help inform the debate,” he said.

No Mr. Sassi, you have an obligation to your stockholders to maximize your profits. You are lobbying on their behalf. Blue Cross is not an advocacy organization for its 8 million customers, in fact you would be breaking the law do just that. You are not interested in fixing what is broken, only in preserving or improving your revenue stream. What you term informing the debate thus far has been limited to playing concern troll, in an attempt to preserve the status quo, which benefits your stockholders the most.

You have hired the same firm that produced the "Harry and Louise" ads that sank Hillary Clinton's health care reform proposal in 1994. That is your express purpose here in California, not fixing what is broken with our health care system. You like what is broken. So don't pretend to care about the well-being of your customers. You are not a union.