Company Analysis - part of my portfolio

Company Analysis

Premera Blue Cross

5+ facts:

Premera Blue Cross is headquartered in Mountlake Terrace, Wash., with operations in Seattle and Spokane, Wash., and Anchorage, Alaska. The company and its predecessors have operated in Washington since 1933 and in Alaska since 1952. there are 1.9 million customers in Washington and Alaska. There is A network of 27,000 physicians, hospitals and other healthcare providers in Washington and Alaska. There is More than 3,500 employees in Washington and Alaska. We offer a wide range of products at varying price points, including: Individual and family coverage, Group medical, dental, pharmacy, and vision coverage, and Medicare Supplement plans.

Financial Information: 2015 - Investments : $1,927,607, Receivables: $994,601, Property and Equipment: $87,449, Assets: $3,244,519, Liabilities: $1,699,349, Net Worth: $1, 545,170, Total Revenues: $4,286,797, total Expenses: $4,358,699, Investment Income: $71,721, Net loss income: ($19,880), general reserves: $1,404,750, total net worth: $1,545,170

Swot Analysis

Strengths	Weaknesses
Served in the Northwest for over 80 years. competitive program of pay and benefits  we offer a variety of wellness programs designed to put-and keep-you on the road to better health and give you the unique opportunity to test and shape our products as an associate Associates who work at least 20 hours per week are eligible for the following benefits: Medical and Dental Health Savings accounts Flexible spending account Life insurance Short-term and long-term disability programs Retirement Paid time off (PTO) Company Holidays Education and development Life balance programs Commute trip reduction program Premera has been recognized for excellence by a number of organizations, including the American Cancer Society and United Way	With health care being such a divisive socio-political issue, it is challenging to be a champion for an insurance company (even though Premera issues my paycheck). The stress to perform beyond expectations to receive high performance appraisal marks is not healthy. This seems to be a company that does respect work-life balance as the workload for myself and all other members of my team has been overwhelming. Parking is horrible in MLT lots of "high school" attitudes roaming the halls very high stress positions, very stringent customer service requirements. Too much Micro Management. The processors do not have to have stop watches while working to perform well. Inhumanly stressful. In my final year of employment there this message seemed to have been lost in translation. The quality of our offerings diminished as seasoned employees left the company and those remained had to shoulder the additional workload with less resources. This is not the right time to seek job at Premera unless it's upper management positions especially in IT department. The middle level managers are mediocre, some managers don't even have direct reports. Management style seems to be intimidation and favoritism. For some reasons only the lower level do all the work and the higher level employees are not pulling their weight. Then there is this QA Lead position, no one truly understand this position it is not a manager nor project manager so what are they and exactly what are their contributions to the company???
Opportunities	Threats
Wonderful co-workers great benefits (although they are changing great pay. Company is going through a rough transition at this time due to the ACA It started out as a great place to work and the culture was very much the message the company was trying to send out to all employers, work life balance. I have enjoyed my 10-year career with Premera in the sales executive role I have held. The company has a high ethical focus, a passion for service and delivery of peace of mind to it's many health insurance members. The culture breeds dedication to company and team. Over the years it has been a highly respected company by it's members, the community, the insurance professionals working with it and its employees. Premera Blue Cross is a good company to work for, with excellent benefits and wages. I started out in the mailroom, then was able to apply for a Claims Processor position. The training was excellent, and I learned both professional and hospital claim entry, manual pricing, large dollar claim pricing, and adjustment of all medical claim types. The most enjoyable part was being asked to be on the new Blue Card program processing claims from entry to adjustments.	Breaches Cyber attacks Vision change - the company is more important than the employees who run the company, hiring senior staff and releasing lower level employees.

List of Board Members: Jeff Roe, Jim Messina, John Espinola, Katharine (Kitti) Kramer, Kent Marquardt, Kirsten (Kacey) Kemp, and Mark Gregory

List trends impacting your chosen company: Medical and financial data belonging to as many as 11 million Premera Blue Cross customers may have been exposed in a breach, Jan 1, 2015 Premera is hacked.