After Control Concepts, Inc. went independent, President Mike Gollobin promised his 10 employees their health benefits would be as good or better than the parent company had provided. Gollobin knew health care was valued by the Virginia company’s talented information technology workers — and that costs would be critical to his young firm’s success.

CareFirst is working to keep quality health care affordable, by developing innovative insurance plans and lowering earnings targets to stabilize premiums. When Control Concepts compared health care packages, CareFirst was the clear choice. Gollobin kept his promise. “CareFirst allowed us to do that,” he says. “And that is saying a lot.”

CareFirst works diligently to keep health insurance affordable and available.

As part of our CareFirst Commitment program, we will forgo $60 million in projected earnings in 2005 to help stabilize premiums. Prices will go down for some groups, and others will see lower increases than expected. In 2004, savings realized by CareFirst’s administrative efficiency and care management allowed us to reduce rates for some small businesses by as much as 20 percent.

Our sales representatives and brokers offer an ever-expanding menu of plan options to hold down costs. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Delaware launched BlueAdvantage®, a new line of consumer-directed health products. In development is our new CareFirst BlueFund family of consumer-directed health plans that will provide premium relief combined with health savings accounts. These tax-free savings accounts can help members meet copayments and deductibles, which, in turn, help control premiums.

Today, CareFirst provides more plan flexibility than ever: HMO members can select their own specialists; new plans reduce premiums through higher doctor copays and deductibles; new vision and dental options offer members even broader choice.

As an expert in health care, CareFirst has worked for 70 years to provide access to high quality care at the lowest possible cost.

CAREFIRST’S RECORD OF SERVICE AND QUALITY:

• Our HMO and PPO plans received the highest three-year accreditation from the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA), the industry standard for measuring service excellence and customer satisfaction.
• For the seventh consecutive year, our Federal Employee Plan division received the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association’s “High Performance/Low Cost” award for claims processing efficiency.
• Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Delaware was named one of the top five plans for quality care in the South Atlantic region as part of NCQA’s 2004 State of Health Care Quality Report.