Highmark reported Dec. 10 it had seen “incremental improvement” in the number of enrollments it received through the federal health insurance marketplace in West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Delaware in the past month.
Enrollment as of Dec. 9, 2913 in West Virginia was 1,237, and Highmark noted that the number accounted for people who had been loaded to its system through completed on-exchange enrollments. The members may not have paid their first month’s premiums, so they had not yet completed the enrollment process.
Highmark enrollment in Pennsylvania was at 10,112 and was 651 in Delaware. It is the only insurer on the marketplace in West Virginia.
“There is a continual need to improve the functionality of the federal marketplace and encourage consumers to enroll by Dec. 23, 2013 for the earliest effective date of Jan. 1, 2014,” Highmark’s news release reads.
Highmark reported “significant interest” in its Community Blue plans in the state of Pennsylvania, noting that of all the plans sold by Highmark on the federal marketplace, 76 percent of those in western Pennsylvania and 80 percent in central Pennsylvania have been Community Blue plans.
“We believe that select-network plans, like Community Blue, are one of the health insurance industry’s best tools to help members lower their health care costs,” said Deborah Rice-Johnson, president of Highmark’s health plans.
The West Virginia Office of the Insurance Commissioner indicated that West Virginia would not adopt the transitional re-enrollment process for 2014 that was proposed by President Barack Obama and CMS. According to Highmark, the decision was made “largely as a result of the previous efforts of theInsurance Commission working with Highmark West Virginia and other West Virginia insurers to provide transitional relief to small groups and individual policyholders during the fourth quarter of 2013.”
Highmark West Virginia provided each of its small group customers, which otherwise would have been replaced by new qualified products or ended in 2014, the option to renew its policy as of Dec. 1, 2013. About 42 percent of all small group customers took the early renewal option, according to Highmark. The company also offered 13,000 individual members the opportunity to continue their health care plans through Dec. 31, 2014.
Date: August 28, 2014