Kyrillos is appointed to the board of Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of NJ
Governor Chris Christie appointed Senator Joe Kyrillos to the board of Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey, the state’s largest health insurance company, yesterday.
Kyrillos did not seek reelection to the State Senate this year and will retire from the legislature in January. Assemblyman Declan O’Scanlon was elected on Tuesday to fill the 13th district’s seat in the upper chamber.
Horizon insures approximately 3.8 million New Jersey residents, according to its 2016 annual report. The company had $12 billion in revenue in 2016 and $85 million in net income.
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Senator Kyrillos is fine man who we all should thank for his service. With dignity, vision, energy and dedication he represented Monmouth over many years with accomplishments that will be tough to match. We should give him a parade. I know firsthand about his often behind-the -scenes and low-key work on so many open space projects and partnerships with the State that have added thousands of acres to our parks and preserved farms. I am sure the readers here could name many of Senator Joe’s achievements in a wide range of areas.
Maybe I should stop the letter at this point (haha).
Hopefully, Senator Kryillos can fix what is broken from the inside of Horizon BCBS. This company has been given an enormous leeway in NJ and in my opinion abused the privilege and us.
Obama the Democrats and gougers like Horizon BCBS bamboozled us all. The Affordable Care Act failed on every count. Many lost their doctors, NJ lost most insurance companies and our premiums went up, some doubling in a few short years. Small businesses in NJ have been destroyed by the lack of health insurance competition. Today, NJ is overly dependent on federal Medicaid subsidies.
Why have insurance carriers have fled NJ and why it that good?
How is driving small businesses out of business good for NJ?
Small businesses cannot grow to big businesses if most of their efforts are concentrated on affording health insurance, on top of confiscatory property taxes. They go elsewhere, the go to underground economy or move to the 1099 contractor model. Even towns, schools and government agencies today are doing the 29 hour work week to avoid health insurance costs.
We know the lack of competition created the opportunity for Horizon BCBS to stash away $3 billion in profits (and folks that is what a surplus is for a non-profit, undistributed net income). That money comes from overcharging your customers who have no place else to shop and are forced to have insurance.
The $3 billion surplus (is actually more like $4 billion if you consider unpaid reserve estimates on their books) on $12 billion in revenue proves three things. Horizon BCBS is a fake non-profit. Horizon is a premium gouger particularly of small business. Horizon is engaged in influence peddling -which they call lobbying – which has destroyed competition in NJ and many other states. Break them up!
For small businesses, Horizon BCBS had a 41% premium increase in 2017 on top of the 20%+ in 2016. Our insurance premiums and deductibles of $16,000 a person, $32,000 per family under Horizon had we stayed with them. Unsustainable.
be some kind of job coming for him. Hope he can help the organization- especially knowing that “Money Murphy” will be adding more Medicaid, (read, free medical recipients,) to the rolls. As Christie did- just one reason why we are broke, with lowest bond ratings. Wondering what the big guy gave to the Dems, in exchange- and, what he gave up to get the ABC for Rible. Democrats are much smarter than we are: they never give anything, unless they get! (and it usually costs us, big- time.)
If someone can be so kind to pass on word of a job opening to Jen Beck; Cheesecake Factory is hiring seasonal help.
Thanks.
hey careerbuilder – once you see the destruction wrought by Murphy, Gopal and the rest of the democrats in Trenton, you will be weeping like a baby for someone like Jen Beck to come back to the Senate.
but it appears we are so in the minority now, vote- wise, it doesn’t much matter. The bills that will sail through by those people are going to be numbing- and expensive. When the Dems say the words “fairer,” and “ the middle class,” look out, hang on to your wallet, and run!
PR, with full sun plus daily water, even you can grow a sense of humor!
@David Young – how sad that you find the impending destruction of your own state so funny