New York, NY – Michelle Zettergren is the newly appointed President, Labor and Public Sector, for Brighton Health Plan
Solutions (BHPS), and is excited about opening up new choices and cost-saving options for union members. Although she herself has not been in a union, she says that she has a long family history of union involvement, which makes helping and serving unions important to her. “My grandparents were in the UAW, my brother is a correction officer, my sister is a teacher, and we also have railroad workers in the family,” she says. “I’m excited about bringing new options to labor, and coming up with solutions that are really different in the marketplace.”
Zettergren’s previous experience includes serving as Chief Sales Officer at HPOne, where she led sales, new business development, and market positioning. She also worked in various leadership roles in Anthem Blue Cross & Blue Shield, managing public sector sales and underwriting. Her experience with labor in particular includes completing labor relations training with the University of Connecticut’s Office of Labor Relations, and participating in numerous labor negotiations, and serving as an expert witness in several arbitration and mediation labor disputes. Additionally, she is a former board member of the Third Party Administrators Association of America (TPAAA).
In her role as President, Labor and Public Sector, Zettergren will lead all sales, account management, and business development activities for the labor and public sector of BHPS. Among her primary responsibilities, she will ensure that MagnaCare continues to serve the needs of labor and public sector clients. MagnaCare is focused primarily on the labor market. “MagnaCare has a long history of serving labor and providing very good service,” she says. “We have over 25 years of working with collectively bargained organizations. Most of our clients have been with MagnaCare for over 10 years. I’m focused on continuing to deliver the service it has been known for.”
However, says Zettergren, “We all know the system is not what it needs to be. There are issues of cost, complexity and quality. So I’m also focused on bringing innovative solutions to labor clients.” To address these issues, BHPS has a new product, Create, which is available to both the commercial and labor markets. Create is a new marketplace of health systems in the New York Tri-State area, “a first of its kind,” says Zettergren. “Create offers an on-line platform where members can shop for themselves and their families to select a health system that becomes their family’s exclusive health care provider network.” Systems are aligned with various hospitals and medical providers, and by choosing one, in-patient and out-patient care is available with doctors in the system. “Providers are more integrated with each other, and can share data and information,” says Zettergren. “It also can bring costs down, as far as co-pays and cost-sharing, since the different systems are in competition with each other.”
Current members of MagnaCare who are happy with their plan, and don’t want to make any changes, are welcome to stick with what they have. “We will look for as little to no disruption as possible,” says Zettergren. “We will keep MagnaCare as it exists today as an option. So those who stay with MagnaCare can keep their current doctors, or switch to Create.”
Personally, Zettergren says that there are several factors that motivated her to join the company. “I was impressed with the history of MagnaCare serving labor, and very much wanted to be a part of that. Also, labor has always been focused on the member. Labor customers are really demanding and tough, but it’s because they represent their members. I like coming up with solutions for those members. Lastly, the people at MagnaCare impressed me. Most of the staff has been here for ten to twenty years. They are hard-working, dedicated, and committed to their clients. I wanted to be part of that team.”
