BLUE CROSS of Texas & Illinois Canceling over 600,000 ObamaCare Plans on 12/31/2015.

As widely known, the Affordable Care Act (aka ObamaCare), doesn't attempt to control costs, but did mandate a ton of requirements. As a result, Blue Cross of Texas and Illinois will be cancelling over 600,000 of the new ACA policies effective 12/31/2015.

BCBS-Texas sent out a letter to Agents notifying them in advance. No More Individual/Family PPO Plans. HMO Only.
Link: www.insurance-forums.net...

BCBS-Illinois has received policy cancellation approval from the Illinois Department of Insurance, but has not yet notified anyone.
See Post #7 at: www.insurance-forums.net...

In addition, the plans that remain will increase in premium by an average of 28% on January 1, 2016. Due to higher than expected claim costs and utilization, this trend away from wide-network PPO health insurance policies is expected to accelerate.

CareWeMust

a reply to: carewemust

2016 is going to be fun!

Better buckle up, it's gonna get bumpy.

a reply to: carewemust

They're not canceling the coverage.

What will this mean for individual members who currently have the PPO plan?
BCBSTX will be transitioning affected individual members to another plan, so you will not experience a gap in coverage. You will also have the option of choosing a different plan during 2016 open enrollment.

Sounds like some changes in coverage, but canceling? I don't see that...

My God.

What a bombshell !!!

I bet they won't let you keep all your doctors either !!!!

a reply to: Benevolent Heretic

The current plans are indeed being canceled at the end of this year. You'll be moved from a Ford with Air Conditioning to a Ford without Air Conditioning...and you'll pay more for it. It's a fact sir.

a reply to: Benevolent Heretic

My how short the memories are ... Remember when we had a health care crisis and something needed to be done it was because of the "evil HMOs?" Now we see the insurance plans cancelling the PPO plans to transition everyone to the "evil HMOs" and you claim there is nothing to see here?

a reply to: carewemust

All because we gave the companies free reign to do as they were doing before.

Make as much money as possible.

But of course it is the ACA's fault that the companies are choosing to do this on their own.

Strange how that works out.

a reply to: Sremmos80
companies/businesses are like people. they will do what they must to survive.
the idiots in the administration / demo party didn't know or care this would happen.
maybe they wanted this so they can move to a 'Single Payer' (i.e., gummint) system.

needless to say, big media is ignoring this.

a reply to: works4dhs

Fine, but they are still the ones making the changes not the ACA.

The ACA didn't force them to do it, it just forced them to give insurance to people who need it.

They decided that hurt their bottom line and made the changes to prevent that.

Because they were the damn ones who were involved with the bill in the first place.

The ACA sucks, but the companies deserve just as much credit for the increased cost and screwing people out of their plans.

And you work for the state, sorry but how can you rag a single payer system and rag those on the gummint tit?

Always find that hilarious that people from heavy socialized work rag on it.

Time for the Public Option !!!!

Why did Democrats erase that from the ACA anyway?

a reply to: Sremmos80

but what happens when insurance companies start going broke?

mergers and consolidations?

Hmmm.

a reply to: Sremmos80

The ACA gave them a botched set of rules to operate under.

For just one example: The ACA relies on young healthy people to pay for the old, sick people. Fair enough, but then they wrote in rules allowing the young, healthy people to stay on their parents' plans until they were nearly 30 and most of the people over that age were too poor to afford the plans offered as minimal coverage so they opted out.

Simply Brilliant!

How does the company make up for that? That have to shift their business plan somehow to attempt to survive.

originally posted by: xuenchen
Time for the Public Option !!!!

Why did Democrats erase that from the ACA anyway?

Oh please, I think we all know. This bill was a Trojan horse designed to create another crisis that the all-powerful and beneficent government will have to "save" us from by creating single payer for all. In other words, pass the bill to find out they're destroying it so they can get what they've wanted all along.

originally posted by: xuenchen
a reply to: Sremmos80

but what happens when insurance companies start going broke?

mergers and consolidations?

Hmmm.

Yep..merger of Anthem and Cigna that was announced today is a BIG FORKIN DEAL.

a reply to: ketsuko

For just one example: The ACA relies on young healthy people to pay for the old, sick people.

Oh you mean how insurance works?

That is the basis of the idea, those not using it pay for the ones that do use it.
Welcome to insurance.

There needed to be cost control built in, plain and simple.
But the companies would never have gone for that.

Because they need to continue to charge out the ass for our medical coverage.

a reply to: xuenchen

Oh yes, those guys were just breaking even before this right?

Please.

a reply to: Sremmos80

Ah, but this was sold to the insurance companies as a guaranteed customer base. And the rules allowed that customer base to weasel out of being customers.

a reply to: ketsuko

And the rules allowed that customer base to weasel out of being customers.

From what? Subsidies?

People forget that a major component of the Unaffordable Scare Act is that Insurance companies must pay out over 80% of their revenue in Medical Care/Claims. This is the MLR (Medical Loss Ratio) provision. Doesn't do any good to raise premiums more than necessary because any excess revenue must be refunded to policyholders.

In 2014 $330 million of 2013's revenue was rebated to policyholders.
Source: www.benefitspro.com...

Can't imagine it being that much this year because almost every company met the 80/20 requirement in 2014.

originally posted by: Sremmos80
a reply to: ketsuko

And the rules allowed that customer base to weasel out of being customers.

From what? Subsidies?

No by simply paying the penalty which is still cheaper than the premium in most places.