Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois, Montana, New Mexico, Oklahoma & Texas | HCSC FAQ

Well-positioned in the market; a large company with a lot of financial resources.

There was a power struggle on the Board a couple years ago and the greedy, shortsighted Board members won. They adopted policies of mass layoffs, hiring/promotion freezes and even made the dress code more strict. This company used to have a strong ethical mission but that has been replaced by a rapacious desire to maximize profits at all costs. Maurice Smith is a BCBSIL lifer, but he’s a sellout and a wolf in sheep’s clothing.

The benefits are great. Especially working for social service companies, the pay is a huge increase.

In order to transfer to a different position in the field you have to be at your current position for a year. It is difficult to get into BCBS unless you know someone; almost all of the members in my training group knew someone at BCBS.

work life balance, & employee benefits

Poor executive leadership and disrespectful culture

Had a solid reputation, focused on culture and doing the right thing for members and employees. Emphasis on “had”

The “coup” last summer to force out the CEO was poorly thought out and executed even worse. No communication from leadership, no alignment on strategy and short-sighted moves to bolster the bottom line for an acquisition. HCSC already lagged behind most regional and national insurers from a technology and capability standpoint and the purge from the layoffs may be an impetus to move forward but will most likely just cause massive disruptions to operations in the short term. Allowing each state to dictate their own “special” way of doing things also eliminates any potential economies of scale from operating as a larger plan. Tough times ahead.

This isn’t Halliburton. HCSC used to care about members and employees. Get back to that.

It's a large organization with room for growth if you work on yourself. Benefits are market standard for IT positions. It's also a recognizable brand which is good on your resume! The organization is truly committed to diversity and you can find people from very diverse backgrounds. Overall a good place to be!

Onboarding can be challenging as you may be assigned many projects without being given enough time to digest and understand the products and processes. If you can survive the first few months then things should get easier down the road.

Ideally new hires should be given some time to learn and understand their products and processes before being thrown into projects.