{"id":8101,"date":"2016-09-12T09:57:09","date_gmt":"2016-09-12T13:57:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nchealthplans.com\/news\/?p=8101"},"modified":"2016-09-08T11:10:30","modified_gmt":"2016-09-08T15:10:30","slug":"nc-health-insurance-weathers-marketplace-changes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nchealthplans.com\/news\/2016\/09\/nc-health-insurance-weathers-marketplace-changes\/","title":{"rendered":"NC Health Insurance Weathers Marketplace Changes"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Attachment-1\"The NC Health Insurance<\/a> landscape has changed dramatically since the Affordable Care Act (ACA) was signed into law in 2010 and implemented in 2014. \u00a0Otherwise known as Obamacare, the ACA was the single biggest change in health insurance history since Medicare took effect in 1965<\/a>. \u00a0Over the last six years, North Carolinians have seen significant changes in how they purchase health insurance, what is available to them as consumers, how health insurance effects their taxes, and how much it will cost to insure themselves and their families. \u00a0In fact, in 2015 health insurance in North Carolina saw some of the biggest rate increases in history with the average cost of plans increasing over 25%.<\/p>\n

As Open Enrollment 2017 approaches, North Carolina, as well as many other states across the nation, are experiencing a new upheaval as some of the largest insurance companies in the U.S are pulling out of the ACA Market altogether. \u00a0In April 2016, United Healthcare announced<\/a> that it would pull out of most of the nation’s exchanges, including North Carolina, which was a big hit to the residents of the state, leaving only two companies offering individual health insurance plans. \u00a0A statement by UnitedHealth Group cited a “smaller overall market size and shorter-term, higher-risk profile within this market” as the reason the company chose to exit.<\/p>\n

But that was just the beginning. \u00a0
\nIn August, Aetna followed suit <\/a>and decided to withdraw, leaving some Americans with only one or no health insurance options. \u00a0For North Carolina, Aetna’s decision to pull out of the federal Exchange means that BCBSNC is now the only company considering\u00a0offering plans in all 100 counties across the state, but even that is no guarantee. \u00a0When United Healthcare pulled out in April, BCBSNC spokesman Lew Borman said “We have not made any decisions about participating in the ACA in 2017. \u00a0We are evaluating the sustainability and affordability of any plans we offer our customers.”<\/p>\n

While Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina remains committed<\/a> to its customers and to providing a quality and sustainable health insurance product, it is clear that North Carolina residents are feeling the affects of the ACA, both good and bad. \u00a0With Open Enrollment 2017 just around the corner, many North Carolina residents are wondering what this year will bring. \u00a0At NC Health Plans, we are committed to helping our customers understand the changes in NC health insurance and how it might affect the benefits or availability of your health plan.<\/p>\n

For more information on North Carolina insurance coverage, 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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The NC Health Insurance landscape has changed dramatically since the Affordable Care Act (ACA) was signed into law in 2010 and implemented in 2014. \u00a0Otherwise known as Obamacare, the ACA was the single biggest change in health insurance history since Medicare took effect in 1965. \u00a0Over the last six years, North Carolinians have seen significant […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[23,553,596,921],"class_list":["post-8101","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bcbsnc-insurance","tag-bcbsnc","tag-impact-of-aca","tag-obamacare","tag-open-enrollment-2017"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nchealthplans.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8101","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=8101"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/www.nchealthplans.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8101\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8118,"href":"https:\/\/www.nchealthplans.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8101\/revisions\/8118"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nchealthplans.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8101"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nchealthplans.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8101"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nchealthplans.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8101"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}