Heard a Rumor of the Carriers in Tennessee

[junkman]

I personally won't sell the coop. I've seen too many come and go over the years. What used to happen is someone would sell a bunch of trust plans then sell the trust to a real carrier when it got big enough. If claims got too high, they'd trash the trust & roll the healthy people into a new trust and dump the sickies. Hospitals also did this as a way of driving people to their hospital. This happened over and over. Some things cost more because they are worth it.

I've also seen BCBST beat other carriers especially if the client can give up the HCA hospitals and live with the S network. There is ~ a 15% differential between S & P. None I've shown the rates to either individual or group have opted for P. It seems mostly to be at the larger national employers.

Blue is asking for the largest rate increase but was the cheapest of the carriers last year. I think UHC is also supposed to have an exchange product in 2016. Commissions are in the toilet as well.

What has anyone's experience been enrolling exchange business on one of the portals and skipping going to the exchange? I won't look for exchange business unless there is a less time consuming method of enrolling.

 

[sk337sk337]

I personally won't sell the coop. I've seen too many come and go over the years. What used to happen is someone would sell a bunch of trust plans then sell the trust to a real carrier when it got big enough. If claims got too high, they'd trash the trust & roll the healthy people into a new trust and dump the sickies. Hospitals also did this as a way of driving people to their hospital. This happened over and over. Some things cost more because they are worth it.

I've also seen BCBST beat other carriers especially if the client can give up the HCA hospitals and live with the S network. There is ~ a 15% differential between S & P. None I've shown the rates to either individual or group have opted for P. It seems mostly to be at the larger national employers.

Blue is asking for the largest rate increase but was the cheapest of the carriers last year. I think UHC is also supposed to have an exchange product in 2016. Commissions are in the toilet as well.

What has anyone's experience been enrolling exchange business on one of the portals and skipping going to the exchange? I won't look for exchange business unless there is a less time consuming method of enrolling.

I use Health Sherpa it's quick and easy for me. I haven't had any issues with CHA. They pay claims and they pay me so no issues.

 

[windi]

Browsing through carriers we have some new players this year in Chattanooga/Cleveland. Does anyone have any experience with CHA? I'm already setup with BC and Cigna. Healthcare is a very limited part of our agency but I figure the more options I have the better.

CHA? Community Health Alliance? I wrote a fair amount of people into them last year, but they are not very organized, the website sucks, and my clients and I have had issues with customer service throughout the year. Most people I wrote into them didnt' qualify for subsidies, and liked the dr. copay on the bronze plan. Prices were great, but them stopping enrollment halfway through January really sucked. Network was pretty decent for a new company.

 

[junkman]

CHA? Community Health Alliance? I wrote a fair amount of people into them last year, but they are not very organized, the website sucks, and my clients and I have had issues with customer service throughout the year. Most people I wrote into them didnt' qualify for subsidies, and liked the dr. copay on the bronze plan. Prices were great, but them stopping enrollment halfway through January really sucked. Network was pretty decent for a new company.

You make my point. Clients like CHA until they get sick and have to use them. CHA is cheap for a reason. Expected claims were low even with a rich plan. Always run from that offer. It isn't real.

Anytime I run the numbers of a non-subsidized plan where the person is responsible for paying premium and claims, HDHP with funding an HSA almost always wins. I take business from agents who don't present it. The question is: Here's what you have with copays. Here's a similar OOP without copays. Are the copays worth $x to you?" The answer is almost always "no". Several clients who have had HSAs from the beginning have upwards of $30,000 in the account that would have been spent on premiums or taxes. They have moved into mutual funds with the surplus.

 

[sk337sk337]

CHA? Community Health Alliance? I wrote a fair amount of people into them last year, but they are not very organized, the website sucks, and my clients and I have had issues with customer service throughout the year. Most people I wrote into them didnt' qualify for subsidies, and liked the dr. copay on the bronze plan. Prices were great, but them stopping enrollment halfway through January really sucked. Network was pretty decent for a new company.

I wrote my family (me, wife, and 3 kids) with them. We haven't had any more issues than with anyone else we've ever used. I've spoken with everyone I've written with them and they've had minor if any complaints. Mainly just billing issues like credit card expired, changed their checking and forgot to update, or the claim was submitted under their previous carrier and they got a bill. I don't have any complaints except the website does suck and it was a smaller network than BCBS but the amount they saved over a comparable BCBS plan was over $200 a month so they could pay out of pocket and still see their Dr if not in the plan.