Empire Blue Cross CEO Says Operations ‘Reasonably Intact’
The chief executive of Empire Blue Cross and Blue Shield, whose headquarters were in the World Trade Center at the time of the attack last week, said yesterday that the insurer's "basic operations are ... reasonably intact," the Washington Post reports. Empire Blue Cross, which has 6,500 employees and 4.5 million members in New York state, is processing claims and referring patients to doctors, even though "only" 200 of its 1,900 trade center employees are back at work. CEO Michael Stocker said that after the attacks, some information technology workers "worked around the clock, getting up our basic systems." He added, "Our employees have done such a great job, it makes your teeth hurt." Stocker said that Empire Blue Cross will likely move its headquarters to downtown Brooklyn, across the East River from Manhattan, while keeping "a presence" in midtown Manhattan (Brubaker, Washington Post, 9/19).
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