BLUE SHIELD: State Allows Insurer to Provide Services in Mexico
Blue Shield of California will be licensed by the state to provide health services in Mexico to people who are covered by a U.S. employer's plan, the AP/Los Angeles Times reports. Gov. Gray Davis (D) made the announcement during the opening ceremonies of the 18th annual Border Governors Conference in Sacramento. Under the proposal, Blue Shield members, who are either U.S. or Mexican citizens and live within 40 miles of the border, can receive health care in Tijuana. Blue Shield will work with Mexican insurer General de Seguros and three Tijuana hospitals to market the new health plan, called Access Baja HMO, to California employers (6/2). "Every day, 40,000 to 50,000 people legally cross the border to work in California. Now, for the first time ever, those workers will have access to health services closer to home," Davis said (Davis release, 6/1).
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