Moving to serve members in ways that make them feel seen, valued and heard

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota is committed to inspiring change, transforming care and improving health for the people we serve. This is made possible by our committed associates. This article is part of a series highlighting our associates and why they believe Blue Cross is a great place to work.

We recently sat down with Alex Jackson Nelson, gender services consultant, to talk about what he enjoys most about working at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota and living our mission to inspire change, transform care and improve health for the people we serve.

What excites you most about working here?

I like to have direct contact with our members and being able to support them in getting their needs met. I am also able to use my interactions with them to contribute to systemic changes within the enterprise. This feels important and really drives my passion for improving care.

That awesome! Having that passion for the work you do is a common theme among our associates who are inspired by our mission. What specifically motivates you to deliver on our reinventive strategy?

As a trans person, I have experienced years of struggles with accessing good medical care and navigating insurance coverage for that care. I know what it takes to make multiple phone calls to various customer service reps and how taxing it is to explain my identity and medical needs repeatedly to strangers who respond disrespectfully. Those experiences are what keep me moving to serve our members in ways that make them feel seen, feel valued and feel heard by us.

"I know what it takes to make multiple phone calls to various customer service reps and how taxing it is to explain my identity and medical needs repeatedly to strangers who respond disrespectfully."

Wow, that must be extremely difficult as someone experiencing that kind of mistreatment. Do you find it challenging helping improve the member experience so we can be a more inclusive and gender competent organization?

Oh yes, my role is a brand-new position and it has been challenging building the tools needed to best support trans and non-binary members. I have a great team of people who are deeply invested in this work and have been happily supporting me.

In fact, I have seen and heard a lot of great feedback that this role exists and have been welcomed graciously to help close the gap for trans and non-binary members. Being new to working inside the insurance world, associates across Stella have been very supportive of this work and me. From my perspective, teamwork is needed and valued at our organization, and everyone has been open to helping support this challenging, but rewarding work.

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What excites you most about working here?

That awesome! Having that passion for the work you do is a common theme among our associates who are inspired by our mission. What specifically motivates you to deliver on our reinventive strategy?

Wow, that must be extremely difficult as someone experiencing that kind of mistreatment. Do you find it challenging helping improve the member experience so we can be a more inclusive and gender competent organization?

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