Lower Rates for Individual Market Health Plans Coming for 2020 Open Enrollment
Terry Burke
| 2 min read
Terry Burke, vice president, individual business, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, leads and oversees the individual market business for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, the state’s largest health insurer. He is a 30-year veteran of the insurance industry.
1.2 million – that’s the number of Michigan residents who’ve enrolled in health care coverage through the Affordable Care Act since its implementation in 2013. And while the growing pains have certainly been felt along the way (with surely more to come), it seems the individual Marketplace has been slowly stabilizing over the last two years. Today, we’re pleased to share some good news with our individual members. Building on 2019’s historically-low premium increases, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan will put forward rate decreasesfor 2020 open enrollment on individual Marketplace plans. PPO and HMO members will see an average rate decrease of 7.7% and 1.2%, respectively. Lower rates are the result of several contributing factors, including increased market stability, fewer high-cost claims and fewer people dropping coverage mid-year. Coupled with Blue Cross’ ongoing work to address the root causes of health care costs, these improvements are strengthening the market and helping us deliver more affordable coverage to our more than 197,000 individual members. There is more good news. Blue Cross will continue to offer a variety of coverage options within each of Michigan’s 83 counties – 29 total plans across Gold, Silver, Bronze and Catastrophic levels – with the addition of one new Gold-level option, Blue Cross Premier PPO Gold 70/30. Our new plan offers consumers a simplistic cost structure that reduces confusion and surprise costs by providing a set coinsurance amount with no deductibles or copays. While the ACA market has been unpredictable over the past few years, one thing has remained consistent – Blue Cross’ commitment to ensuring access to health coverage for all Michigan residents. And as part of that commitment, it’s imperative for us to also provide a broad range of coverage options that fit the needs of those who must purchase their own health insurance plan. To that end, our work to maintain sustainable, affordable individual health plans will continue. We will continue to listen to our members and innovate to offer them a wide range of choices. We will continue to work with policymakers from all political persuasions to strengthen the market for individual coverage. And we will continue to promote insurance affordability – which includes the lower-cost plan options we are putting forward during 2020 open enrollment. Learn more about our extensive network options in this video.
Photo credit: Deagreez
