They have an army of Raleigh insiders lobbying for them. They spread their cash around to state lawmakers like Halloween candy. When Blue Cross says JUMP, Raleigh’s political elite regularly ask: “How high?”
Eighteen months before HB67 passed, Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina quietly bought 55 urgent care clinics, mostly in rural towns.
At the time, they sold it as charity. A benevolent insurer, with 82.8% market share in the state, stepping in to “save” rural healthcare.
Now the rural healthcarelaw has changed. And suddenly, the story looks very different. HB67 allows foreign-trained doctors to practice here on the cheap – no US tests, no residency, and no caps on the number of doctors a corporation can hire.
The timing? Too neat.
The benefits? Too obvious.
The optics? Terrible.
A Monopoly Masquerading as Mercy
Picture this. You’re a Medicare patient. You’ve seen the same family doctor for ten years. He knows your history, your medications, your quirks. You trust him.
Then one day, he’s gone. The clinic says it’s a “cost-saving measure.” In his place stands a Pakistani-trained substitute.
Not someone who went through the same 13–16 years of training U.S. doctors endure. Not someone who passed his boards and continues his education. Not someone who paid $350,000 in student loans for the privilege of caring for patients.
Instead, under HB67, this new doctor holds an “International License” and can bill Medicare the same rate as your old doctor. He never passed the same rigorous U.S. exams. He may never have completed a residency in Pakistan.
Maybe he’s practiced just long enough abroad to slip through NC’s “equivalency” loophole.
You don’t know. And you’re not told.
You expected safety. Continuity. The same strict standards your longtime doctor cleared to care for you.
Instead, you get a Pakistani replacement chosen because he was cheaper, not because he was better.
And you wonder: if your health, your Medicare dollars, and your trust can be undercut so easily — who is this system really built to serve?
Who benefits from this shortcut? Not you.
The real winner is the insurer that now owns the clinic and the workforce. Blue Cross can collect premiums, pay reimbursemens, hire cheaper staff, and keep the savings. […]
Of course, CA$H money HAD to play a role in this. When you consider what happens daily on Raleigh’s Jones Street, when doesn’t it?
MORE
[…] Bought and Paid For?
Let’s not pretend. Blue Cross NC is one of the biggest political donors in the state.
And the lawmakers who passed HB67?
They’ve been fed well by the insurer’s checkbook.
Senate President Phil Berger has pocketed over $45,000 from Blue Cross PAC in the past six years.
And the conflicts don’t end there. In 2020, Berger sold his townhouse to lobbyist T. Tate Apodaca for $330,000 — a deal watchdogs called a “handsome gift from a lobbyist” because Berger had been using campaign funds to pay the mortgage. That arrangement left him with a profit of more than $150,000, far above the norm.
In other words: donations in, mortgage covered, lobbyist-linked buy out. A perfect political windfall.
Senator Kevin Corbin has taken $32,000 from Blue Cross PAC.
Senator Bill Rabon? $38,000.
Senator Ralph Hise? Another $32,000.
And it doesn’t stop there: the wife of Blue Cross lobbyist David Powers gave $6,000 to Phil Berger and $2,500 to HB67 champion Senator Benton Sawrey.
Maybe no envelopes slid across the table. But the alignment is too neat.
Donors give. Lobbyists gift. Lawmakers profit. And the rest of us live with the consequences.
To patients, it looks simple: the same politicians cashing insurer checks are the ones lowering doctor standards to save those insurers money.
That isn’t policy. That’s payback. […]
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One thought on “NC’s Largest Insurer buys bunch of clinics JUST BEFORE the legislature lowers standards”
Criminal attys can set their clocks ticking. Imagine the lawsuits forthcoming!
Who is up for an operation from any of these ‘trainees’?
It will not be long before the entire rural NC healthcare system will be operating solely by ‘these trainees’ at the only available clinics or facilities available in the immediate area.
BSCS WINS and rakes in $millions as these so-called doctors will be paid much less I”m sure that American doctors; however those reimbursements and pay will be much higher than what would have been paid or received in their native lands/countries.
The NC gop is really looking out for rural NC.
And let’s be realistic here, HOW has any state-wide candidate WON in the state of NC. THE RURAL votes and this is how they are rewarded. Healthcare from foreign trainees with who know what degrees, training or expertise OR their past performance in practicing medicine.
The NC gop is just as corrupt, deceitful, liars, cheaters and greed-filled individuals as ANY democrat in this state or the nation.
They have an army of Raleigh insiders lobbying for them. They spread their cash around to state lawmakers like Halloween candy. When Blue Cross says JUMP, Raleigh’s political elite regularly ask: “How high?”
Criminal attys can set their clocks ticking. Imagine the lawsuits forthcoming!
Who is up for an operation from any of these ‘trainees’?
It will not be long before the entire rural NC healthcare system will be operating solely by ‘these trainees’ at the only available clinics or facilities available in the immediate area.
BSCS WINS and rakes in $millions as these so-called doctors will be paid much less I”m sure that American doctors; however those reimbursements and pay will be much higher than what would have been paid or received in their native lands/countries.
The NC gop is really looking out for rural NC.
And let’s be realistic here, HOW has any state-wide candidate WON in the state of NC. THE RURAL votes and this is how they are rewarded. Healthcare from foreign trainees with who know what degrees, training or expertise OR their past performance in practicing medicine.
The NC gop is just as corrupt, deceitful, liars, cheaters and greed-filled individuals as ANY democrat in this state or the nation.
BURN THE NC gop DOWN!