LEAKED EMAILS: Blue Cross Blue Shield NC Coordinated Directly with NC Democrat Gov to Stifle Aid to Western NC
Last Updated on October 10, 2024
Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina (BCBS NC) intentionally worked to slow down the Helene response in western North Carolina, according to leaked emails obtained by National File.
BCBS NC directed its employees to only work with the Red Cross and one other Government related relief effort in the wake of Hurricane Helene’s devastation of 25 counties in the western part of the state.
THE HIGHLIGHTS
- LEAKED EMAILS SHOW DEMOCRATS CONSPIRED TO SLOW DOWN RESPONSE IN WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA.
- BCBS NC worked directly with the Democrat Governor Roy Cooper’s office to slow down disaster relief to Western North Carolina.
- BCBS is coordinating their relief effort in direct coordination with Cooper’s office.
- The Democrat response EXPLICITLY FORBADE volunteers from volunteering spontaneously.
- The Democrat-run BCBS response further restricted volunteer activities to the Red Cross and VolunteerNC — a government entity.
- BCBS NC fully acknowledged the reality that their chosen response was going to slow the effort down by FOUR TO SIX WEEKS! Just in time for the election to wrap up!
Emails and social media posts from Tunde Sotunde and Cheryl Parquet confirm the BCBS response was directly coordinated with the office of Democrat Governor Roy Cooper.
Parquet’s job title raises questions about whether BCBS believes it has any responsibility to the residents of western North Carolina.
You can see the emails here.
BCBS DONATION IS A DROP IN THE BUCKET
BCBS NC recently announced they’d donate $2.5 million to the Western NC relief.
With the non-profit generating profits that total nearly $1 billion dollars annually, that small donation represents 0.0043 — or 4 one thousandths of Blue Cross North Carolina’s annual profit.
To put the donation to western North Carolina’s relief effort into perspective, consider that BCBS NC’s Chief Executive Officer Dr. Tunde Sotunde was awarded a $2.1 million bonus in 2021, pushing his annual compensation to over $4 million.
Making massive profits during public health emergencies is not new for Blue Cross Blue Shield NC.
WRAL News has been all over Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina’s finances, their fast-rising premiums, and their lavish executive bonuses.
Even after the pandemic subsided, 2021 was a very good year for the Blue Cross’s profit margins.
In 2021, BCBS NC generated $10.7 billion in revenue, netting about $570 million in net revenue after paying all executives handsomely.
That’s a hefty profit for a non-profit company. The more than half a billion in profit represented a 118% jump from 2020 and a 16% increase from pre-pandemic 2019.
Sotunde came under fire during Covid when BCBS NC — supposedly a non-profit — began reporting record profits.
READ THE EMAILS HERE OR ON TWITTER/X.
LEAKED EMAILS SHOW DEMOCRATS CONSPIRED TO SLOW DOWN RESPONSE IN NC
Thread/
BCBS NC worked directly with the Democrat Governor Roy Cooper’s office to slow down disaster relief to Western North Carolina. pic.twitter.com/wHBzzNTfK5
— National File (@NationalFile) October 10, 2024
DEI HIRES
Questions have been raised about whether Sotunde and Parquet represent DEI hires — that is, hires driven by affirmative action and the recent invasion of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion seen in corporate and academic work spaces across the globe.
Dr. Sotunde is a graduate of the a Nigerian medical school called University of Ibadan College of Medicine in Nigeria, class of 1988.
Sotunde completed his residency in pediatrics at Howard University hospital in 1995, according to his LinkedIn profile.
Sotunde was elected by the board to lead BCBS NC in 2020.
As of the end of the 2022 cycle Tunde Sotunde had contributed $22,352 to ANTHEM PAC, the political action committee for Anthem Healthcare.