{"id":6623,"date":"2015-11-02T13:55:56","date_gmt":"2015-11-02T18:55:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nchealthplans.com\/news\/?p=6623"},"modified":"2015-11-06T15:48:47","modified_gmt":"2015-11-06T20:48:47","slug":"bcbsnc-rate-increase-after-2016-call-us-888-765-5400","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nchealthplans.com\/news\/2015\/11\/bcbsnc-rate-increase-after-2016-call-us-888-765-5400\/","title":{"rendered":"BCBSNC Rate Increase for 2016 – Call Us 888-765-5400"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Stethoscope<\/a>A few weeks ago, Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina announced a requested rate increase for all 2016 BCBSNC health policies.\u00a0 Since that time,\u00a0NC health plans <\/a>has received numerous calls from concerned customers regarding the proposed rate increase, with the number one question being why?\u00a0 <\/em>Here’s the answer.<\/p>\n

Since the induction of the Affordable Care Act, numerous Americans have been able to acquire new health insurance<\/a>.\u00a0 With the influx of new customers, both the current administration as well as insurance companies have understood that it would take some time to determine the full impact of the ACA on health care costs.\u00a0 According to Patrick Getzen, Vice President and Chief Actuary for Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina, in preparation for the third full year of coverage in 2016 BCBSNC is now “starting to get a more complete picture of medical spending under the ACA.”\u00a0 As Getzen notes, both industry and government officials relied on two assumptions when the\u00a0Affordable Care Act began.\u00a0 They expected a healthier mix of customers in the second year (2015), and a leveling-out of medical spending following an increase in demand the first year (2014).\u00a0\u00a0 “We now have enough data to know that both of these assumptions have not proven true,” reports Getzen in an article explaining the proposed rate increase for the upcoming year.<\/p>\n

Like other insurance companies across the nation<\/a>, BCBSNC must make changes in order to continue to remain viable and offer health plans to customers across the state.\u00a0 Although Blue Cross Blue Shield of NC understands how a rate increase will impact customers, the increased use of health care services in 2015 created a gap “too large to ignore.”<\/p>\n

What data has shown is that ACA customers typically use a\u00a0substantial amount of expensive health care services and report an increasing number of chronic health conditions.\u00a0 The claims and expenses filed\u00a0to Blue Cross\u00a0Blue Shield of NC are higher than the amount of premium dollars the company is collecting.\u00a0 In fact, as BCBSNC reported last month, the operating losses on their ACA business in 2014 were $123 million an that kind of business loss simply cannot be sustained\u00a0year after year.<\/p>\n

The important thing to\u00a0keep in mind is that the Department of Insurance\u00a0is scheduled to review the proposed rates for 2016 late in the month of August.\u00a0\u00a0Current ACA members will receive\u00a0renewal notices that explain how the changes for 2016 will affect them this coming fall.\u00a0 Open Enrollment\u00a0begins November 1st and extends through January 31st and during that time, customers can make any necessary changes to their health plans.\u00a0 When you get your renewal rates, give us a call <\/a>and we will be happy to discuss any changes you would like to make to your current benefits.<\/p>\n

Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina is working to provide lower-cost, preferred network plans and to offer customers affordable options that include highly regarded hospitals and in-network providers.\u00a0\u00a0 The changes in the\u00a0insurance industry under the Affordable Care Act have been substantial; however, Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina <\/a>is committed to keeping the residents of NC\u00a0covered and any upcoming changes\u00a0are being made in an effort to maintain the best possible coverage for all BCBSNC members.<\/p>\n

For more information on Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina <\/a>insurance coverage, the Marketplace and healthcare gov to apply for your subsidy, please visit our website at www.nchealthplans.com <\/a>or call our toll free number 888*765-5400 and speak with one of our experienced and professional agents.\u00a0 Let us help you navigate through the Health Care Reform changes in accordance with the new regulations of The Affordable Care Act, also known as Obama care.<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A few weeks ago, Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina announced a requested rate increase for all 2016 BCBSNC health policies.\u00a0 Since that time,\u00a0NC health plans has received numerous calls from concerned customers regarding the proposed rate increase, with the number one question being why?\u00a0 Here’s the answer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560,14],"tags":[539,23,349,662],"class_list":["post-6623","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-affordable-care-act-aca","category-bcbsnc-insurance","tag-aca","tag-bcbsnc","tag-insurance-premiums","tag-rate-increase"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nchealthplans.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6623","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nchealthplans.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nchealthplans.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nchealthplans.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nchealthplans.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6623"}],"version-history":[{"count":20,"href":"https:\/\/www.nchealthplans.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6623\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7003,"href":"https:\/\/www.nchealthplans.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6623\/revisions\/7003"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nchealthplans.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6623"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nchealthplans.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6623"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nchealthplans.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6623"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}