Insurers are taking steps to prepare for individuals and families who will be buying plans.
Health insurance companies have become very aware of the change in coverage rules that is occurring in the United States as of January 1, 2014, and are taking steps to make sure that they are ready for the tremendous wave of individual customers who will be purchasing plans.
In this light, many have been creating all new products to offer this growing market different options.
A major example of this includes the efforts of Blue Cross of Northeastern Pennsylvania (BCNEPA). Their strategy includes the release of a new kind of health insurance policy that they will begin offering in 2013. This will be geared specifically toward individual customers younger than 65 years old and who are healthy. It is designed to offer a simple and affordable form of coverage.
This type of health insurance news should become increasingly common as 2013 progresses.
In this particular case, the new plan, which is called the BlueCare Direct Simplicity policy, provides rates that start at under $100, according to the BCNEPA executives. The health insurance company created it specifically for people who want to be able to obtain a basic standard form of coverage that they can afford.
That said, as health insurance firms work to design these new policies, they must also keep in mind that they will need to be able to transition the coverage into the statewide exchanges, should they wish to participate. This is because that is a central element of the Affordable Care Act that will be effective as of 2014.
This effort won’t necessarily be easy for the insurers, as the specifics surrounding the health insurance exchanges have yet to be created in the majority of cases. In Pennsylvania, for instance, it is one of 10 states that has not yet determined how its online marketplaces will be operated. There are three possibilities: entirely state run, entirely federally run, or a hybrid of the two. The decision will greatly define the type of policy that will be available on the exchanges and how they will be included.
