UNC Health Care will continue paying taxes on Eastowne Office Park property it bought this month from Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina, a spokeswoman said today.    

As N&O staff writer David Bracken reported last week UNC paid $14.2 million for the seven buildings that Blue Cross vacated last year as part of a cost-cutting effort. The deal includes 47 acres and 152,000 square feet of space across U.S. 15-501 from the insurer’s 40-acre campus headquarters.

The property has an appraised tax value of $16 million, according to Orange County land records. The sale price was negotiated after both sides did their own appraisals, Blue Cross spokesman Lew Borman said..

Blue Cross paid $253,000 in property taxes on the buildings to the town, county and Chapel Hill-Carrboro school district in 2010. When two vacant land parcels in the deal are included, taxes totaled $334,000, Borman said.   

The state's largest health insurer is expanding its on-site hospital billing service to the Duke University Health System.

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina started posting employees on location at Raleigh-based WakeMed in 2009 to work with physicians and billing departments. The goal to resolve claims questions faster and more efficiently.

The insurer previously expanded the program to the UNC Hospitals in Chapel Hill and is in discussions about doing it at other hospitals. Adding Duke gives Blue Cross partnerships with the Triangle's three biggest hospital systems.

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina is tired of playing the scapegoat.

The state's largest health insurer will announce this morning that it's beginning a major marketing campaign to emphasize that many parties share the blame for rising health costs. The message is that those groups, including insurers, doctors, hospitals, drug companies, lawyers and consumers, must work together to reduce medical costs.

The effort will include TV commercials and other advertising with goats portraying the various groups. The Chapel Hill company also is starting a website, www.letstalkcost.com to spur more discussion about how to control medical costs.

The risk is that consumers, physicians and others who already blame Blue Cross for surging insurance premiums may see the ads as the powerful company spending more money on marketing that simply attempts to deflect criticism.

Robert J. Greczyn Jr. continues to beef up his resume in retirement.

The former CEO of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina will join the board of Raleigh-based LipoScience. The company is developing blood tests that use nuclear magnetic resonance technology. Its main product is a test to check bad cholesterol levels.

"LipoScience is leading the way in innovative new approaches for the management of cardiovascular disease," Greczyn said in a prepared statement.

LipoScience, led by CEO Richard Brajer, is a private company that doesn't disclose much information about its business, including how many employees it has or any financial results.

Antitrust regulators have expanded a probe of Blue Cross health insurance plans' contracts with hospitals to several more states, including North Carolina, the Wall Street Journal reports.

The investigation is looking into whether Blue Cross plans forced hospitals to sign contracts that stifle competition from rival insurers and raise prices for patients. The so-called "most-favored nation" clauses have been a focus of a U.S. Justice Department lawsuit filed last fall against Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan.

The federal investigators have sent civil subpoenas to Blue plans in other states, including Ohio, Kansas, Virginia and North Carolina, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Lew Borman, a spokesman for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina, declined to comment. The Chapel Hill company is this state's largest health insurer, with 3.7 million members.

The top boss at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina made $1.87 million last year, less half what his predecessor earned during the prior year.

The state's largest health insurer disclosed the pay package for Brad Wilson, who took over as CEO last February, in its annual report with the N.C. Department of Insurance.

Bob Greczyn made $4.08 million in 2009, his last full year as CEO.

Some of the difference is related to their tenure as CEO -- Greczyn had a higher base salary and bigger potential bonus after more than a decade running the company, said chief financial Gerald Petkau. And some of Wilson's total pay package is tied to longer-term incentives, which he will  be in line to receive in coming years.

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina reported a surge in net income for 2010, as the state's largest health insurer cut costs and saw stronger returns on its massive investment portfolio.

But membership growth and revenue were essentially flat, as customers continue to shift to cheaper health plan options. Blue Cross lost about 30,000 insured members as the economic downturn continued to hurt, but saw an uptick in membership where it only provides administrative services.

For 2011, the company doesn't expect to see a big rebound, said chief financial officer Gerald Petkau. Individual and corporate customers are still seeking ways to keep premiums affordable, such as shifting to health plans with higher deductibles.

"We're trying to maintain a relatively stable level of profitability to serve our members well," he added. "Stable and modest growth are good in this business."

The state's largest health insurer is dipping its toe in the retail business.

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina has set up a kiosk in Durham's Streets of Southpoint to market its health insurance products. The pilot kiosk will stay open through December "to test ideas for future retail opportunities."

The kiosk is located on the second level near the food court. Perhaps holiday shoppers who overcharge their credit cards and overindulge on fast food will start worrying about their health coverage?

The woman who was the public face of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina for more than a decade spent her last day at the state's largest health insurer on Friday.

Lynne Garrison's position as vice president of corporate communications was eliminated in part of a broader effort to slash administrative costs. Several other jobs at the VP level have been cut during the past few months, but Blue Cross spokesman Lew Borman declined to name names.

CEO Brad Wilson announced plans in July to slash costs up to 20 percent by 2014, as the insurer prepares for changes brought by the federal health overhaul. That plan will likely involve more lost jobs as Blue Cross streamlines its operations to be more competitive in a new economy.

Garrison joined the Chapel Hill company in May 1997 after a long stint as a staffer with Gov. Jim Hunt's administration. 

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina unveiled its first iPhone application today, giving customers the ability to find urgent care centers, compare drug costs or contact customer service from their smartphones.

Company officials said the free app is available for download by customers with an iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch.

The app could prevent a family from going to an emergency room and waiting two hours, only to realize they could have gone to a nearby urgent care center and paid less, senior vice president John Roos told the Charlotte Observer's Eric Frazier.

Chapel Hill-based Blue Cross is North Carolina’s largest health insurer, with more than 3.7 million members.