Can BCBS Discriminate by County?

[Freddie]

I was doing a quick search on BCBS web site. I am in a county quite a bit north of Dade County (Miami). BCBS comes up with plans and Dade is about 1/2 the cost. It says for people who work and live in Dade. Dade is very urban county with a lot of non-English speakers. Avg income is probably lower, crime is higher yet the health insurance is about 1/2 the price.

Something like $166 Dade versus $356 more suburban county and the plan in Dade is also better. How do they get away with this sh*t? Is this a govt subsidy to try to reduce freebies at the emergency room for the uninsured and illegals? It is blatant discrimination or reverse discrimination.

 

[Clint]

I'd say, Freddie you are drawing on un-informed business bias. Rates are based on a myriad of data sets. For an urban county, you will find probably the same thing for urban counties in Northern Florida as well; race has nothing to do with it. Density population and the use insurance does.

 

[ins.dave]

How do they get away with this sh*t? Is this a govt subsidy to try to reduce freebies at the emergency room for the uninsured and illegals?

Are you on smack?
Hello ... ever here of the C.P.I?
They can charge whatever they want based on what the market will allow?
WTF?
Obviously they cannot shake people down for money they do not have?
maybe the dumbest thing we've ever seen posted here and considering some of Al3's meanderings, that's saying something.

 

[Benefits Man]

I'm surprised anyone writes in dade county, dade is crime/fraud/low income central

 

[somarco]

Several years ago when FL was in my territory we could write business almost anywhere but Dade & Broward county. High cost area + unbelievable fraud.

 

[bsdavis]

It all depends on the pricing structure for the company.

Could be split by county, zip code etc...any universally accepted geographical marker. I guess most recently I heard it refered to as "community pricing." As mentioned previously metioned there are a *large* number of factors that play into the geographical rate differences. The obvious marker point is number of claims vs premium. If there are "no" policies being written there then there are not any claims to speak of to require a premium adjustment.

The other common method for pricing is the generic "age bracket" system which rates everybody the same based on thier age (typically within a state). Can be either "attained age" or "issue age." This is most commonly how life insurance does it, but some health companies use it.

This is obviously the abbreviated version. But I think it answers your question. For further details I would recomend you reference your licensing materials. At least when i got mine (albight a while ago) they covered the difference pretty well.

have a great weekend.

 

[Virtualinagency]

Most of the carriers I write, seems to be double the rate within Miami area compared to most other areas within Florida....

 

[Freddie]

Most of the carriers I write, seems to be double the rate within Miami area compared to most other areas within Florida....

Yeah - I am not sure why that other guy is getting unhinged. Maybe he loves BCBS.

I would expect Dade to be higher but it was about half of Broward. It specifically stated the enrollee/client had to live and work in Dade. Almost seems like it is being subsidized by the govt. Maybe this is where some of the TARP money is going or it is a reverse redlining tactic by BCBS.

It makes no sense for a higher risk county to have rates 40 to 50% lower then the next county. Seems like total BS.

It is like paying 3 times for healthcare. Loaded in your property taxes for the illegals free care at the hospital. Overpaying to subsidize another county then paying your own premium. No wonder healthcare is so expensive.
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Are you on smack?
Hello ... ever here of the C.P.I?
They can charge whatever they want based on what the market will allow?
WTF?
Obviously they cannot shake people down for money they do not have?
maybe the dumbest thing we've ever seen posted here and considering some of Al3's meanderings, that's saying something.

Speak of health care - did you miss that dosage of Lithium?

Speaking of WTF - WTF does "Obviously they cannot shake people down for meony they do not have."

Huh? The next county with a lower risk are the ones being shaken down while Dade appears to be subsidized by the lower risk county.

Go take a chill pill Gomer.