Health Insurance Forum

North Carolina health Insurance

by mahir on 02/06/10 at 2:33 pm

A plan by a North Carolina health insurance company to analysis outsourcing some of its data organization work is drawing disapproval from people who say the company shouldn’t be transfer jobs overseas, a newspaper reported Saturday.
The News & Observer of Raleigh reported that Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina, looking for ways to cut expenses, has started a pilot project with Boston-based information technology company Keane to examine data from the insurer’s electronic storehouse.
The analysis would be used to promote the company’s 10-year-old information system, which could save money.
Blue Cross spokesman Lew Borman said some of the work probable will be handled at a Keane facility in India. “It does not concern any existing jobs,” Borman said. “But I can’t talk to down the road.”
Sending work beforehand done in the U.S. to other countries to save money is nothing new. But one business specialist says there is a criticism from consumers and others when it happens for the first time.
“The whole idea of sending jobs offshore is a political hot potato,” said Jim Johnson, a professor of policy and entrepreneurship at UNC’s Kenan-Flagler Business School. “Most companies try to stay it underneath the radar.”
The savings can be noticeable. The regular annual salary for an information technology worker in India is about $20,000 compared with an average of $80,000 in the U.S.
But such a shift doesn’t sit well with local workers’ organizations.
“It’s shocking they would sell abroad jobs when the Research Triangle area has all the manpower and expertise to accomplish the task,” said Dana Cope, executive director of the State Employees Association of North Carolina. “Blue Cross is sitting on billions in reserves and paying millions to its top executives. I would favor that they use some of that currency to appoint some IT workers in North Carolina.”