The Michigan medical coverage sector has been greatly benefiting from the sale of individual policies.
The health care reform is giving quite a shot in the arm to the insurance industry in Michigan, as sales of individual policies have spiked by almost 40 percent in the first quarter of 2014.
This, according to a report that was recently released, while profits had been slumping the rebound was large.
Last year, profits had been sliding, but this year, the health care reform is giving the industry a considerable boost as there have been 88,000 new policies added in Michigan in the first three months, alone. The data was released in the Michigan Health Market Review annual report. That publication is created by Allan Baumgarten, an independent health industry analyst. According to Baumgarten, the high number of policies that have been sold in the state through the healthcare.gov federal website with the improvements being seen within the industry.
The health care reforms have led to a surge in both traditional plans and in medical maintenance organizations.
The Blue Care Network was the group to have gained the most, having increased its individual members by 58,000. The figures that Baumgarten published were gleaned from insurers in the state and includes the people who are actually enrolled in health plans. This means that they have signed up for a policy and have paid their initial premiums.
According to Baumgarten, “(The high number of enrollments) suggests that people who didn’t have insurance before have now enrolled in … insurance companies, and that’s a big net increase.” He also went on to add that “It means that this is a significant business opportunity for (health insurers).”
He also pointed out that there had previously been a market of individuals who had not purchased a policy but who desire coverage. In the past, these individuals had not been able to find a plan that they found to be affordable. However, this situation changed with the health care reform and allowed insurers to be able to reach out to an entirely new group of people with their new offerings.
