Blue Options HSA is a new way to pay for health care. Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina has taken their most popular plan design’s PPO network and paired it with a High Deductible Health Plan (HDHP) and a health savings account (HSA), which has similar characteristics to a 401(k) or an IRA but for qualified medical expenses. Blue Options HSA offers many advantages.  Get your Free Rate Quote for this plan today and call our office so we can go over the benefits and process to apply and enroll.

For more information on health insurance coverage in North Carolina, please visit our website at www.nchealthplans.com or call our toll free number 888-765-5400 and speak with one of our professional agents. Our agency provides coverage for health insurance in North Carolina through Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina (BCBSNC). It would be our pleasure to help you navigate through the Health Care Reform changes in accordance with the new regulations of Obama care. Call us for details.

You can generate a quote today and compare your plans with numerous plans offered by Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina.   You can select from our Blue Options HSA, Blue Advantage and Blue Saver plans.  You do not pay any premium when you apply, once your application has gone through underwriting for a final decision, you can change to any plan you want prior to making payment.  You are not under any obligation to enroll once your application has been approved.  Apply today

For more information on health insurance coverage in North Carolina, please visit our website at www.nchealthplans.com or call our toll free number 888-765-5400 and speak with one of our professional agents. Our agency provides coverage for health insurance in North Carolina through Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina (BCBSNC). You may qualify for a 15% healthy lifestyle discount if you are in excellent health. Call us for details.

The information above is provided by BCBSNC, 2011 Plan Information Guide.

For more information on health insurance coverage in North Carolina, please visit our website at www.nchealthplans.com or call our toll free number 888-765-5400 and speak with one of our professional agents. Our agency provides coverage for health insurance in North Carolina through Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina (BCBSNC). You may qualify for a 15% healthy lifestyle discount if you are in excellent health. Call us for details.

1. During the annual renewal period (November for a January 1 effective date) as long as the policy has been in effect for at least 6 months

2. Within 30 days following marriage (requires copy of marriage certificate)

3. Upon adding your spouse as a dependent for reasons other than marriage (requires supporting documentation)

Here are some additional things to consider:

• The maternity rider covers maternity services under the core health plan’s deductible and coinsurance.

There are usually no office visit co-payments and no separate deductible for maternity coverage.

• Complications from pregnancy1 are covered under Blue Advantage or Blue Options HSA even if you do not have the maternity rider. These health plans provide you the protection in the event of certain complications with your pregnancy.

• You can add your newborn to your existing policy within 30 days of the date of birth (without medical underwriting) regardless of whether or not you have the maternity rider. Coverage will be effective as of the baby’s date of birth so long as your policy was active on the day of birth.

• Many people see the maternity option simply as a means to help “pre-pay” and choose to purchase it only if they are planning on getting pregnant in the near future.

The information in this article is from bcbsnc.com, maternity rider benefits.

For more information on health insurance coverage in North Carolina, please visit our website at www.nchealthplans.com or call our toll free number 888-765-5400 and speak with one of our professional agents. Our agency provides coverage for health insurance in North Carolina through Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina (BCBSNC). You may qualify for a 15% healthy lifestyle discount if you are in excellent health. Call us for details.

The ZERO PERCENT base rate increase for the Blue Options HSA and Blue Saver products underscores that when customers have a greater financial stake in the decisions they make, they become more savvy health care consumers. The growth they are seeing in these products shows that consumers are comfortable taking a more active role in managing their health care expenses.

Requested base increase for Blue Advantage: 6.35 percent

Consumer Driven Health Plans account for 45 percent of new BCBSNC individual plan sales so far in 2011

Customers to receive notice of their individual rate increase in mid October

Low medical trend on HSA/Saver products drives zero percent increase

If approved by the Department of Insurance, more than 294,000 Blue Advantage/Blue Options HSA members would see rate changes less than 10 percent, including more than 17,000 customers who would see rate decreases.

Blue Advantage PPO is a traditional co-pay-based health plan for individuals. Blue Options HSA and Blue Saver are high-deductible plans that offer customers lower monthly premiums and more streamlined benefits. Blue Options HSA is paired with a Health Savings Account, which customers use to pay their out of pocket expenses. Blue Options HSA and Blue Saver products cover preventive care at 100 percent with no cost sharing. Sick visits, specialist visits and visits to urgent care centers or emergency rooms are all subject to customers’ coinsurance and deductible.

Any premium changes to Blue Advantage and Blue Options HSA/Blue Saver products must be approved by the DOI.  Following DOI approval, Blue Advantage and Blue Options HSA/Blue Saver customers will receive a letter from BCBSNC in October telling them what their specific rate changes will be for 2012. Customers may choose to make changes to their health plan, deductible, co-pay or co-insurance to reduce their premium. 

Blue Options HSA is BCBSNC’s fastest growing health plan, with year over year membership growth of 23 percent.

Information from Press Release by bcbsnc.com where you can read the rest of the article.

For more information on health insurance coverage in North Carolina, please visit our website at www.nchealthplans.com or call our toll free number 888-765-5400 and speak with one of our professional agents. Our agency provides coverage for health insurance in North Carolina through Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina (BCBSNC). You may qualify for a 15% healthy lifestyle discount if you are in excellent health. Call us for details.

If plan participants are enrolled in a Blue Options HSASM account and their fund administrator is ACS/BNY Mellon, subscribers in that plan will notice the following changes:

Beginning July 18th, subscribers who log into BCBSNC’s Member Services (www.mybcbsnc.com) will notice that the “My HSA Account” link is being replaced with a “Manage My HSA” link. This link will direct subscribers to www.hsamember.com, a site hosted by ACS/BNY Mellon, the HSA fund administrator.

Subscribers who are accessing www.hsamember.com for the first time will need to complete the e-registration process with ACS/BNY Mellon. Then, to access their HSA account information at any time, they simply log into their new hsamember.com account. (This account and log-in process is separate from their BCBSNC Member Services account.)

With www.hsamember.com, BCBSNC members will have more of their HSA information at their fingertips than ever before, and the site is easy and convenient to use.

“My HSA Account” pages will no longer be available on bcbsnc.com. Members will be able to access similar information, and more, from the www.hsamember.com website and from www.bcbsnc.com.

This information was published by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina on July 5, 2011.

For more information on health insurance coverage in North Carolina, please visit our website at www.nchealthplans.com or call our toll free number 888-765-5400 and speak with one of our professional agents. Our agency provides coverage for health insurance in North Carolina through Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina (BCBSNC). You may qualify for a 15% healthy lifestyle discount if you are in excellent health. Call us for details.

The annual contribution limit for health savings accounts (HSAs) will increase for high deductible health plans with effective dates of January 1, 2012 or later.

For individuals with self-only coverage enrolled in a high deductible health plan, the maximum HSA contribution amount will increase from $3,050 to $3,100. For individuals with family coverage enrolled in a high deductible health plan, the maximum HSA contribution amount will increase from $6,150 to $6,250.In 2012, a high deductible health plan will continue to be defined as a health plan with an annual deductible that is at least $1,200 for self-only coverage or $2,400 for family coverage, and an annual out-of-pocket maximum amount that does not exceed $6,050 for self-only coverage or $12,100 for family coverage. Out-of-pocket expenses include deductibles, co-payments and other amounts, but do not include premiums.

Information in this article is from a BCBSNC press release and was posted on June 1, 2011 at bcbsnc.com.

For more information on health insurance coverage in North Carolina, please visit our website at www.nchealthplans.com or call our toll free number 888-765-5400 and speak with one of our professional agents. Our agency provides coverage for health insurance in North Carolina through Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina (BCBSNC). You may qualify for a 15% healthy lifestyle discount if you are in excellent health. Call us for details.

• Review of the application

• Telephone interview with applicant, parent if child under 18 years of age and/or legal guardian

• Medical history obtained from attending physician

• BCBSNC Medical Underwriting Guidelines

• BCBSNC claims history, if available

Underwriting will be based on the severity of conditions as well as a combination of conditions. It will include lifestyle underwriting (e.g. smoking, alcohol use) and height/weight guidelines.

Adverse Underwriting Decisions

An applicant has 90 business days from the date of the mailing of notice or other communication of an adverse underwriting decision to appeal. BCBSNC must furnish the applicant with a response within 21 days from the date of receipt of such written request.

The information in this article is from the 2011 Product Guidelines for Blue Advantage and Blue Options HSA plans from Blue Cross Blue Shield of NC.

For more information on health insurance coverage in North Carolina, please visit our website at www.nchealthplans.com or call our toll free number 888-765-5400 and speak with one of our professional agents. Our agency provides coverage for health insurance in North Carolina through Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina (BCBSNC). You may qualify for a 15% healthy lifestyle discount if you are in excellent health. Call us for details.

You can select from Blue Advantage 100% plans with 0% co-insurance or Blue Options HSA high deductible plans coupled with a tax savings account.  Blue Advantage offers co-payments as low as $15.00 for your primary care physician and $30.00 for a specialist with 100%, 80/20 or 70/30 co-insurance.  If you are out of work or between jobs and need to lower your premiums, you can select from Plan B or Plan C, with higher office visit co-payments and co-insurance.   Want to reduce your premium more – look at our HSA Blue Options with deductibles as high as $10,000.00 for a family and $5,000.00 for an individual.

If you are looking for dental coverage, Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina offers Dental Blue.   Select from any dentist, no waiting periods or deductible for preventive services. 

Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina has the largest network of doctors and hospitals in the State; they expand coverage to every State in the US and extend coverage to over 200 countries.  If you want to check and see if your doctor or hospital are in network, visit our site at www.nchealthplans.com and click on find doctor/hospital to begin your search.

Keep in mind, it can be cheaper to remove a dependent from your existing group plan if that individual is in good health.  If you would like to apply today and see how you can lower your premiums and keep the best coverage with the best company, click here.  You do not pay any premium when you initially apply, once your application has been approved you can elect to enroll or decline the coverage.   Explore group health insurance coverage through Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina and provide coverage to your employees. 

For more information on health insurance coverage in North Carolina, please visit our website at www.nchealthplans.com or call our toll free number 888-765-5400 and speak with one of our qualified agents. Our agency provides coverage for health insurance in North Carolina through Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina (BCBSNC). You may qualify for a 15% healthy lifestyle discount if you are in excellent health. Call us for details.

Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina (BCBSNC) always promotes a healthy lifestyle.  You could reduce your monthly rate as much as 15%  if you qualify for this discount.  This rating tier is referred to as “Preferred Plus” – if you do not smoke, you do not have any pre-existing health conditions, lead a healthy lifestyle, if you are not taking any medications and if your height and weight ratio is within Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina’s preferred guidelines, you may qualify for this discount. 

It does not cost anything to apply for our Blue Advantage or Blue Options HSA plans to determine if you qualify for this discount.  After you apply, your application is submitted to underwriting for final approval.  Once approved, you view your final rates, you have the ability to change to any plan available and enroll in your policy.  If you determine you do not want to proceed with acquiring the coverage, you have the option of deleting your application.  You are not under any obligation to purchase the plan once you have received final rates and approval.  Also, compare our Blue Advantage plans to our Blue Options HSA for even more costs savings.

Keep in mind, once you have enrolled in your policy, your rating tier, based on your health at the time the application is submitted, can never be changed as long as your policy stays in force, regardless of any changes in your health after submission of your application.  APPLY TODAY AND SEE IF YOU QUALIFY.