Supplier Diversity Program

At Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan and Blue Care Network, we believe that creating opportunities throughout the community is essential to our success.

a diverse group of women stand laughing and smiling with each other

Our mission

It's our mission to establish best-in-class business development practices that empower the diverse communities we serve. We seek to maximize the inclusion of all diverse groups, with fair and impartial consideration in the procurement of goods and services to Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan.

Helping you succeed

We help diverse suppliers succeed by:

  • Hosting the annual Supplier Diversity Achievement Awards.
  • Promoting the value of working with diverse suppliers by sharing best practices, webinars and presentations.
  • Using contracts and training programs with our subsidiaries to support diversity goals.
  • Having our Supplier Diversity Procurement Council establish, advance and monitor progress toward diversity goals.
  • Making sure we consistently meet or exceed our corporate goal of spending with diverse suppliers.

Our partnerships

We've developed partnerships throughout the community with organizations like:

  • Michigan Minority Supplier Development Council
  • Great Lakes Women's Business Council
  • National Veteran Business Development Council
  • The National Business League
  • Michigan Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
  • Asian Pacific American Chamber of Commerce
  • Veteran Owned Business Round Table
  • Detroit Economic Growth Corporation
  • Michigan Economic Development Corporation

We've received recognition from some of our partners for our supplier diversity.

Who's eligible

We’re committed to working with diverse businesses. Our program is made up of two tiers:

Tier I program

We contract with diverse suppliers. These businesses are 51 percent or more owned and operated by:

  • Women
  • Minorities
  • Service-disabled veterans
  • Veterans
  • Members of the LGBTQ community
  • Persons with disabilities

Tier II program

We encourage our primary contractors to use diverse suppliers when they work with us. We also ask them to let us know how much they spend with those diverse suppliers. This program creates more meaningful business opportunities for diverse businesses.

Classifications

To participate in our supplier diversity program, a business needs to fall into one or more of these classifications:

A Historically Underutilized Business Zone, or HUBZone, is an area found within one of these:

  • Qualified census tract
  • Qualified nonmetropolitan county
  • Land within a Native American reservation

The Small Business Administration keeps a list of the qualified HUBZone small businesses. You can find it on SBA.gov.

An LGBTQ business is at least 51 percent owned, controlled and operated by people who are either lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer.

A Minority Business Enterprise is at least 51 percent owned, controlled and operated by people from these minority groups:

  • African American: A U.S. citizen who is of Black racial groups from the origins of Africa
  • Asian-Indian: A U.S. citizen whose origins are from India, Pakistan or Bangladesh
  • Asia-Pacific: A U.S. citizen whose origins are from Japan, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Taiwan, Korea, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, the Philippines, Thailand, Samoa, Guam, the U.S. Trust Territories of the Pacific or the Northern Marianas
  • Hispanic American: A U.S. citizen who is of Spanish culture from the origins of Mexico, South or Central America or the Caribbean
  • Native American: A person who is an American Indian, Eskimo, Aleut or Native Hawaiian

In a Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Business, service-disabled veterans own at least 51 percent of the business and manage the daily business operations.

A small business, including its affiliates, is:

  • Independently owned and operated
  • Not dominant in the field of operation in which it is bidding
  • Qualified as a small business under the U.S. Small Business Administration criteria and size standards

A Small Disadvantaged Business is at least 51 percent owned by people who are socially and economically disadvantaged, as defined by the U.S. Small Business Administration.

In a veteran-owned business, veterans own at least 51 percent of the business and manage daily business operations.

A Woman-Owned Business Enterprise is at least 51 percent owned, controlled and operated by women.

How to apply

These are the steps you'll need to follow.

Health care services

  • Wellness and other health care programs
  • Care management
  • Call centers

Information technology

  • Hardware
  • Software
  • Communications and information technology services
  • Temporary help
  • Consulting

Administrative services

  • Training
  • Temporary help
  • Advertising
  • Printing
  • Facilities management

We require that our suppliers are either certified as a diverse business or use diverse subcontractors.

For diverse suppliers

To qualify for our Tier I program, we require certification from these organizations and their regional affiliates:

For suppliers with diverse subcontractors

If you’re applying for the Tier II program, we’d like to know how much you spend on subcontracting with diverse suppliers. Please email us at SupplierDiversity@bcbsm.com so we can enroll you in our Tier II reporting program.

Reporting is submitted on a quarterly basis:

First Quarter (Jan. to March)
Second Quarter (April to June)
Third Quarter (July to Sept.) 
Fourth Quarter (Oct. to Dec.)

Complete your application by registering for an account with us.

If you have questions about the form, please email VendorManagmentCOE@bcbsm.com.

Once you’ve completed the steps above, please follow up with an email to SupplierDiversity@bcbsm.com.

Note: We can't guarantee all businesses that apply will be chosen to do business with us.