Aerial photo of BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee headquarters in Chattanooga.
Bill GraceyBill Gracey will take control of Tennessee’s biggest health insurer in January with a smaller staff than his predecessor.
Gracey, a former HCA executive who is succeeding retiring CEO Vicky Gregg as head of BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee, said the company will cut 100 BlueCross jobs by the end of the year and leave another 100 positions vacant next year. Gracey said he wants to cut the company’s 4,500-person staff at least 2 percent by 2014 when new health care taxes and rules are set to begin.
“The health insurance industry is undergoing tremendous changes,” Gracey said in a statement. “It is growing more competitive by the day, and we are facing unprecedented challenges that require us to operate more efficiently.”
The Tennessee BlueCross plan is Chattanooga’s biggest employer, but the insurer is under pressure to cut its operating costs to meet the new standards for allowable administrative expenses under ObamaCare.
BlueCross made refunds this summer to 73,000 individual policy holders because the company didn’t pay out at least 80 percent of its premium income from individual policy holders to medical providers. Statewide, health insurers had to pay a total of $28.8 million in refund checks to 240,298 insurance subscribers in Tennessee and $19.8 million to 243,813 Georgians.