Blue Cross (MA) Reviews

Pros

health benefits; life balance flexibility; tuition reimbursement; decent to good pay (depending on individual position)

Cons

bad mid-level management; stressful; feels like company no longer cares about employees well-being

Pros

Good pay & benefits, good work/life balance. Products are competitive but pricing is high in most markets. They see themselves as the best in the industry but are reluctant to push their weight around for fear of government backlash.

Cons

Middle sales management is "old guard" and they protect their jobs by not making waves. These managers have mostly been around for 20+ years and provide little help in the sales process. They are reluctant to intervene with Underwriting to help propel growth and appear to be "gutting it out" until retirement, when they can tap into their rich pension and retiree medical plans. Very little opportunity for advancement as long as these people continue showng up for work.

Advice to Senior Management

Try to understand what is holding back this company (middle managers) and implement a more serious performance review program that rewards real achievment.

Pros

Good pay and benefits. In some departments the "quality" bar is set pretty high which is good and makes employees proud to be employed there.

Cons

Old school. Males get pegged for promotion early on. Honesty not a priority but making things appear to be working smoothly is.

Advice to Senior Management

Realize that you have created a go along to get along atmosphere. When a rare voice tells you the truth, maybe listen a little even if the voice isn't male and Irish.

Pros

Insurance was cheap. Really decent people. Pretty flexible work schedule. Was able to work in different buildings as needed for my job function. Like my boss quite a bit.

Cons

Pay was not great; zero room for advancement; heavy emphasis on hiring contractors; very very process oriented

Advice to Senior Management

You began looking at lean processes last spring. Pursue this please and eliminate some of the unnecessary process. It's not real control, just imagined. Also begin holding people accountable for what they do. There seems to be a real pass the buck culture. It's frustrating for those of us who really want to do the right thing. The current culture does not allow for change from how "it's always been done"

Pros

The company has a relaxing working environment. The pay is OK if you want to stay in one position forever.

Cons

No place to growth within the company. HR internal hiring process is very difficult. They don't look at your true potential but rather seeing you in a grade system.

Pros

Great work and family balance including the ability for many to work from home. People are nice to work with. Most of the upper management seems genuinely concerned for the welfare of their employees and members.

Cons

Since the recession, the company at times seems to have lost sight of putting the members first and more focused on the bottom dollar. Advancement within the company sometimes appears to be based on who you know.

Pros

Great benefits package, including decreased (NOT free) medical/dental insurance, excellent vacation benefits and 401K. Not a place that will "work you to the bone" - allows a life outside of work.

Cons

I felt a significant lack of motivation to excel in this job. I could work as hard as possible or skate by doing the bare minimum - there were no real incentives to encourage/dissuade employees. Also extremely unfair promotion system - playing favorites and at times even sexist (towards males).

Advice to Senior Management

Customer Financial Management has some serious issues to work out. The department's entire structure is not aligned with other areas of BCBSMA and it reflects very poorly upon the company. There is no incentive/rewards system in place and the work is horrible, causing high turnover that mangement clearly doesn't care about.

Pros

Nice, down-to-earth people, comfortable, friendly work environment, supportive managers, small family feel. Fantastic employee development and training programs. Great, convenient location as well.

Cons

I'm not entirely confident in the caliber of management. The company seems mediocre and at risk. The fact that the CEO resigned recently is not a good sign.

Advice to Senior Management

not sure. I think management really needs strong leadership and someone who is truly committed to turning the industry around. Continue with Cleve's plan to pay hospitals based on quality and quantity.

Pros

They provide a great benefits package and do a pretty good job with life-work balance but usually only on their terms. Don't fault them for that too much it just seemed if you were female and had child care issues it was understood. For the men out there trying to be a good dad, another story.

Cons

There is an entire friend of... club there. The old guard is never leaving because they have 10-20 years at the place and befriended their way into the job no matter how inept they are. Do yourself a favor and look somewhere that will reward performance.

Advice to Senior Management

Do some house cleaning and bring in people that ha e ideas rather than years of service.. If they want to stay that's great but it shouldn't be a qualification.

Pros

People who are dedicated to providing excellent service to members and providers despite sometimes difficult situations.

Cons

Company is struggling to maintain a sense of balance in an ever changing industry.

Advice to Senior Management

Senior management must establish greater trust and confidence in middle management to assist in managing the actual business areas. Middle managers must be able to move forward more freely without fear of losing their value or position. Employees should be able to address their business operational issues and work with management back towards the original goals of first in class service and operational excellence.