4 New Insurers to Join Georgia Exchange

[Post Quartermaster]

More insurers seek to join 2015 Georgia exchange - The Newnan Times-Herald

UnitedHealthcare, Coventry, Cigna and Time Insurance Company have each submitted plans with the state to offer health insurance in the federally run exchange in Georgia next year.


They join the five holdovers from this year’s exchange that are also submitting rates for review: Alliant Health Plans, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Georgia, Humana, Kaiser Permanente, and Peach State Health Plans.


lb_uhc-logoThe state’s deadline for applications for the Georgia exchange was midnight Monday. Glenn Allen, a spokesman for state Insurance Commissioner Ralph Hudgens, said late Monday afternoon that other insurers’ filings could come in before that deadline.


The increased competition is expected to be good news for Georgia consumers, and could prevent a big increase in premiums, experts say.


The Georgia exchange had vigorous competition in the metro Atlanta market this year, but in areas of southwest Georgia, the premiums there were among the highest in the country.


It’s not immediately clear whether United or the other three new applicants plan to offer coverage in all areas of Georgia. This year, just one company, Blue Cross, offered health plans statewide.


Earlier in the month, UnitedHealthcare told GHN that it was considering offering health plans in Georgia’s exchange for 2015.


State exchanges, required under the Affordable Care Act, are designed to help consumers find and purchase health coverage. An exchange can be run by either the individual state or the federal government. Georgia, like most other states, has opted for federal administration.


Minnesota-based UnitedHealth sells health plans in just five exchanges now, but its executives previously have said they expected to expand their offerings in 2015, Bloomberg News recently reported. United has moved to offer plans in several new states for next year.


Coventry, along with Aetna, initially proposed rates for the Georgia exchange for 2014 but wound up choosing not to participate in the state.


Allen said that with the submission of all proposed plans for 2015, the state will now review the rates of the insurers and check the adequacy of their medical provider networks.


“Consumers benefit from competition,” Karen Ignagni, the president and chief executive officer of America’s Health Insurance Plans, the industry’s Washington lobby group, told Bloomberg News in a May interview. “The most important thing is getting folks on the playing field offering different products to consumers so they can make the decisions that are best for them.”


More than 316,000 Georgians signed up for health plans in the insurance exchange by the end of the enrollment period this spring.


http://Mygeorgiahealthplan.com

 

[cornelius322]

United will offer statewide too, Albany Herald 7/13 (this may be republished from Georgia Health News). I would have shared the link but I'm not at 20 posts yet.

ATLANTA — UnitedHealthcare is the fourth health insurer seeking to offer insurance statewide in Georgia’s exchange next year.

The Minnesota-based company would join Coventry, Time Insurance Co. and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Georgia in offering health plans in all regions of the state.

This year, Blue Cross was the only statewide insurer in the Georgia exchange, which was created under the Affordable Care Act.

Counting the four that plan statewide offerings, there are nine insurers applying to participate in the Georgia exchange to some degree. The state’s insurance department released rate data for eight of the nine applicants earlier this month, but omitted data from UnitedHealthcare, saying it had an incomplete application.

The agency said Friday that the application is now complete, and it released United’s proposed rate information.

The 2014 insurance exchange featured wide variability in rates between regions. In metro Atlanta, for instance, multiple plan choices were offered, while in southwest Georgia, only Blue Cross offered plans. The southwest Georgia region had among the highest exchange premiums in the nation this year.

But experts, noting that the proposed Blue Cross rates for next year’s exchange will decrease by an average of 7 percent, say the southwest Georgia region is expected to see lower premiums in 2015.

A total of nine insurers seeking to offer exchange plans in 2015 is up from five for the current year.

Along with United, three other new insurers – Coventry, Time Insurance and Cigna – are seeking to join the five holdovers from this year’s exchange that are also submitting rates for review: Alliant Health Plans, Blue Cross, Humana, Kaiser Permanente, and Peach State Health Plans.

Dr. Harry Heiman, director of health policy for the Satcher Health Leadership Institute at the Morehouse School of Medicine, said Friday that more insurers will mean more choices for Georgia consumers.

“It’s an incredibly positive sign,’’ he said. “The market is speaking.”

Other signs of ACA success, Heiman said, include studies that show the law has reduced the number of uninsured adults by 8 million to 11 million in its first year.

He also cited a recent survey of Blue Cross plans nationwide estimating that $1 out of every $5 in reimbursements is being paid under an arrangement in which providers are rewarded for improving care and lowering costs. Those are central goals of the ACA, Heiman noted.

A number of states’ exchanges had a rocky debut last fall because of technical problems, and many people in Georgia and elsewhere were unable to enroll initially. With an intensive repair effort and some relaxed deadlines, enrollments eventually surged and reached or exceeded projections.

Andy Miller is editor and co-founder of Georgia Health News Inc.

 

[somarco]

This year, just one company, Blue Cross, offered health plans statewide.

Not entirely accurate.

BX was the only HIX carrier in all regions. All the other carriers (except KP) were off exchange in all regions.

 

[jetsetter dream]

In South GA, exchange participants only had access to BCBS products. It is good to hear that UHC will be participating statewide. I still have mixed feelings about selling on the exchange. In the less populated regions of South GA, there were BCBS policies being sold, but there were not any providers in a 50 mile radius. Anyone heard news about network expansion? Are there going to be more providers accepting plans in the coming year?

What is the general atmosphere of the exchange? Is there a large participation of agents in the exchange. Are the commissions worth anything in this state?

 

[somarco]

ALL BX plans for 2014 (on and off) were HMO's with tiny networks. Pretty sure Phoebe Putney was non-par but they have had a dispute with Blue for years so nothing new.

I don't know that adding UHC to the mix will make it any better. They haven't been competitive here for at least 5 years.

 

[jetsetter dream]

I don't know that adding UHC to the mix will make it any better. They haven't been competitive here for at least 5 years.

I was just looking at it from the viewpoint that some new options are better than none.