hurt the plans if they don’t get enough premium revenue to pay their medical claims. enrollment could result in budget-breaking health costs, she said. Brendan Buck, spokesman for America’s Health Insurance Plans, the industry’s trade group whose members do not include the Obamacare co-ops, is also dubious about their viability. plans do not offer the kind of stability that consumers are looking for,” he said. “These Making Inroads? Despite difficulty getting traction in some states, co-op officials say that they are gaining ground. The experience of Land of Lincoln Health, the Illinois co-op, may be illustrative. After attracting just 3,800 members this year, , making it the lowest-priced silver plan in large portions of the state for 2015, company officials say. As a result of those changes, President Jason Montrie said he expects enrollment to surpass 50,000 next year. The co-op, which was started by a Chicago-based hospital trade group, was able to drop premiums by partnering with large hospitals systems, he said. If enrollees use providers affiliated with those systems, they will face lower costs, but if they go to other doctors and hospitals they will have to pay more. Like Land of Lincoln, other co-ops said they lowered premiums without resorting to narrow networks that exclude many hospitals and physicians. Monthly premiums are only a portion of consumers’ costs— co-pays and deductibles usually apply. But premiums are usually the first thing potential buyers look at when they go to the online insurance exchange, Montrie said. HealthyCT CEO Ken Lalime said his plan also decided to offer more competitive rates for 2015 to increase enrollment. increased competition to the market was not an instantaneous “Bringing thing to happen,” he said. Co-ops that did price competitively in their first year saw robust enrollment. The Maine Community Health Options Co-Op grabbed 83 percent of the exchange market in 2014, largely because it offered the lowest-cost silver plans. Before 2014, Anthem was the dominant player in Maine’s individual market. just goes to show you can do well by people and do well financially,” said CEO Kevin Lewis. “It
hurt the plans if they don’t get enough premium revenue to pay their medical claims. enrollment could result in budget-breaking health costs, she said. Brendan Buck, spokesman for America’s Health Insurance Plans, the industry’s trade group whose members do not include the Obamacare co-ops, is also dubious about their viability. “These plans do not offer the kind of stability that consumers are looking for,” he said. Making Inroads? Despite difficulty getting traction in some states, co-op officials say that they are gaining ground. The experience of Land of Lincoln Health, the Illinois co-op, may be illustrative. After attracting just 3,800 members this year, , making it the lowest-priced silver plan in large portions of the state for 2015, company officials say. As a result of those changes, President Jason Montrie said he expects enrollment to surpass 50,000 next year. The co-op, which was started by a Chicago-based hospital trade group, was able to drop premiums by partnering with large hospitals systems, he said. If enrollees use providers affiliated with those systems, they will face lower costs, but if they go to other doctors and hospitals they will have to pay more. Like Land of Lincoln, other co-ops said they lowered premiums without resorting to narrow networks that exclude many hospitals and physicians. Monthly premiums are only a portion of consumers’ costs— co-pays and deductibles usually apply. But premiums are usually the first thing potential buyers look at when they go to the online insurance exchange, Montrie said. HealthyCT CEO Ken Lalime said his plan also decided to offer more competitive rates for 2015 to increase enrollment. “Bringing increased competition to the market was not an instantaneous thing to happen,” he said. Co-ops that did price competitively in their first year saw robust enrollment. The Maine Community Health Options Co-Op grabbed 83 percent of the exchange market in 2014, largely because it offered the lowest-cost silver plans. Before 2014, Anthem was the dominant player in Maine’s individual market. “It just goes to show you can do well by people and do well financially,” said CEO Kevin Lewis.
Covered-Clips-Week-of-November-17th-December-8th.docx