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California Physicians' Service Inc. - Blue Shield of California
07/20/2021 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 07/20/2021 17:25
Blue Shield of California’s Statement on Transitioning from Facilitating Vaccine Operations to an Advisory Role
Blue Shield of California supports the state's efforts to save lives, addressing equity challenge, and helping to partially vaccinate nearly 75% of eligible Californians
OAKLAND, Calif. (July 20, 2021) - Blue Shield of California today announced the nonprofit health plan is transitioning its role as the state's third-party administrator (TPA) facilitating vaccine operations to now serving in an advisory role.
'It took a collective effort among state and local officials, providers throughout California and other important stakeholders for California to achieve these life-saving results in a short period of time,' said Paul Markovich, president and CEO, Blue Shield of California. 'We are proud to have been a part of this vital public service, which is directly linked to our mission as a nonprofit health plan. We're also proud to have done this work at cost, with no profit from the state. Our reward has been to help save lives.'
When the TPA began planning for the network in January, California had delivered about 3 million vaccine doses via a network with a capacity of about 1.6 million doses per week.
The statewide vaccine network that the TPA built has the capacity to deliver 6 million doses a week, including more than 570 providers operating more than 3,000 sites, and more than 99 percent of Californians have access to the vaccine network per state's geographic distance requirement.
California has administered more than 44 million doses to over 25 million people. Nearly 75% of eligible Californians 12 and older are at least partially vaccinated and the vaccine is widely available to all who want it.
Blue Shield agreed to do this immense task at no cost and will only seek reimbursement from the state for third-party costs incurred in support of this initiative within a $15 million budget set by the state.
About Blue Shield of California
Blue Shield of California strives to create a healthcare system worthy of its family and friends that is sustainably affordable. Blue Shield of California is a tax paying, nonprofit, independent member of the Blue Shield Association with over 4.5 million members, over 7,500 employees and more than $21 billion in annual revenue. Founded in 1939 in San Francisco and now headquartered in Oakland, Blue Shield of California and its affiliates provide health, dental, vision, Medicaid and Medicare healthcare service plans in California. The company has contributed more than $150 million to Blue Shield of California Foundation in the last four years to have an impact on California communities.
For more news about Blue Shield of California, please visit news.blueshieldca.com.