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Why is it that health insurers are making so many unwelcome changes to Individual Health plans all across the nation?
For example... Our BCBS is making these 3 plan modifications all at once, on January 1, 2016. But only to Individual Health plans. Not to Small Group plans..
1. Raising Premiums in IL by an average of 31%.
2. Reducing the Medical Network PPO participation of physicians, hospitals and other facilities by 30% statewide.
3. Converting the Prescription Formulary from "Brand Name" to "Generic Preferred". I don't know the implications of this, but it doesn't sound good.
When HHS first gave directions to health insurers on how to design ObamaCare plans for the individual health market, there were high standards and that had to be met. Health insurers had to design the Silver benchmark plan in every state to have benefits on par with the strongest small group health plan in that state. This was circa 2011/2012.
Fast forward to 2016, and we have IHPlans having their benefits reduced, making them significantly inferior to small-group plans, while their premiums are being increased to, or above, what a small-group participant would pay for his/her coverage.
If BCBS (or any insurer in a given state) has 50,000 lives insured by Individual Health Plans, and 50,000 lives insured on Small Group Plans, why are the 50K Insured by IHPlans such a high risk that their coverage needs to be jacked up in price, and stripped down in benefits, making what they have vastly inferior to small group plans...by every measure. I don't get it.
-Allen
For example... Our BCBS is making these 3 plan modifications all at once, on January 1, 2016. But only to Individual Health plans. Not to Small Group plans..
1. Raising Premiums in IL by an average of 31%.
2. Reducing the Medical Network PPO participation of physicians, hospitals and other facilities by 30% statewide.
3. Converting the Prescription Formulary from "Brand Name" to "Generic Preferred". I don't know the implications of this, but it doesn't sound good.
When HHS first gave directions to health insurers on how to design ObamaCare plans for the individual health market, there were high standards and that had to be met. Health insurers had to design the Silver benchmark plan in every state to have benefits on par with the strongest small group health plan in that state. This was circa 2011/2012.
Fast forward to 2016, and we have IHPlans having their benefits reduced, making them significantly inferior to small-group plans, while their premiums are being increased to, or above, what a small-group participant would pay for his/her coverage.
If BCBS (or any insurer in a given state) has 50,000 lives insured by Individual Health Plans, and 50,000 lives insured on Small Group Plans, why are the 50K Insured by IHPlans such a high risk that their coverage needs to be jacked up in price, and stripped down in benefits, making what they have vastly inferior to small group plans...by every measure. I don't get it.
-Allen