Which of the following is an example of a third-party payer?

A third-party payer refers to any organization that is responsible for paying healthcare costs on behalf of the insured patient. This typically includes insurance companies, health plans, or government programs.

BlueCross BlueShield serves as a quintessential example of a third-party payer. As an insurance provider, it manages healthcare claims and payments for services rendered to its members. This means that when a patient receives medical care, the healthcare provider bills BlueCross BlueShield, which then processes the claim and covers the agreed-upon costs according to the patient's insurance policy.

In contrast, other entities like the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) or the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) are administrative bodies that provide oversight and regulation for healthcare programs but do not directly pay medical claims as insurance providers do. Workers' Compensation (WC) can cover specific work-related injuries and may act as a payer in certain contexts, but it is generally seen as a unique program rather than a broad-based third-party payer like BlueCross BlueShield.