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Blue Cross NC Says Pandemic Costs Could Top $600M

The Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina campus in Durham. Photo courtesy of BCBSNC.

North Carolina's largest health insurer is projecting the coronavirus pandemic will cost the company hundreds of millions of dollars.  

Dr. Tunde Sotunde is the CEO of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina, and has been in charge of the insurer for just over a month.

He says costs related to the pandemic will likely top $600 million, with long-term expenditures even larger if medical expenses rise.

Sotunde told The News & Observer the company has taken numerous steps to increase and streamline care during the last several months, including the elimination of co-pays for screening, testing and treatment for COVID-19.

Telehealth services have expanded, and payment grace periods have been extended.

Sotunde says Blue Cross NC is well-positioned to handle increasing costs but admits the pandemic has taken the insurer into “uncharted territory.”

It remains unclear how the increased costs might affect future insurance premiums.

Sotunde also says the company is committed to the Affordable Care Act marketplace, which is under threat from the Trump administration's efforts to effectively end the program.

For the most up-to-date information on coronavirus in North Carolina, visit our Live Updates blog here. WFDD wants to hear your stories — connect with us and let us know what you're experiencing.

Neal Charnoff joined 88.5 WFDD as Morning Edition host in 2014. Raised in the Catskill region of upstate New York, he graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 1983. Armed with a liberal arts degree, Neal was fully equipped to be a waiter. So he prolonged his arrested development bouncing around New York and L.A. until discovering that people enjoyed listening to his voice on the radio. After a few years doing overnight shifts at a local rock station, Neal spent most of his career at Vermont Public Radio. He began as host of a nightly jazz program, where he was proud to interview many of his idols, including Dave Brubeck and Sonny Rollins. Neal graduated to the news department, where he was the local host for NPR's All Things Considered for 14 years. In addition to news interviews and features, he originated and produced the Weekly Conversation On The Arts, as well as VPR Backstage, which profiled theater productions around the state. He contributed several stories to NPR, including coverage of a devastating ice storm. Neal now sees the value of that liberal arts degree, and approaches life with the knowledge that all subjects and all art forms are connected to each other. Neal and his wife Judy are enjoying exploring North Carolina and points south. They would both be happy to never experience a Vermont winter again.

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