PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) – Tufts Health Plan will begin selling insurance plans in 2015 through HealthSource RI, the new insurance marketplace being created under President Obama’s health law, Tufts President and CEO James Roosevelt Jr. confirmed Wednesday.
Tufts will become the fourth Rhode Island insurer to sell plans on the new health-benefits exchange, joining Blue Cross Blue Shield of Rhode Island, Neighborhood Health Plan of Rhode Island and UnitedHealthcare. HealthSource RI Executive Director Christine Ferguson has said for months she hoped Tufts would join in the second year.
“We have committed to Director Ferguson that we will be on the exchange in 2015,” Roosevelt said during a taping of myRITV’s Executive Suite. “That is happening. We worked closely with her and with other state officials on helping to design the functioning of the exchange.”
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The HealthSource RI exchange is set to begin enrolling individuals and small businesses on Oct. 1. Health coverage will be subsidized with federal tax credits for those who make less than four times the federal poverty level, and officials are preparing a major marketing push to raise awareness and drive enrollment.
Massachusetts-based Tufts started selling health insurance in Rhode Island in 2009 but declined to offer health plans through HealthSource RI in its first year, unlike the state’s other three insurers. That raised questions about whether the exchange would provide enough options for consumers and employers.
“We became convinced that we could not offer a product of the quality we wanted to offer by Jan. 1, 2014,” Roosevelt explained. “So we decided to wait a year, have the lead time, knowing what the regulations will be in place. … We think we will bring a fresh approach on Jan. 1, 2015.”
HealthSourceRI spokesman Ian Lang hailed Tufts’ announcement.
“We’re thrilled to hear that Mr. Roosevelt has confirmed Tufts plans to join us,” Lang told WPRI.com. “We think it will be an important part of the exchange going forward, and we think it will allow us to continue to increase the amount of choice available for small employers and individuals in Rhode Island.”
HealthSource RI expects to offer 28 health plans when it opens Oct. 1, with 12 for individuals and 16 for small employers. The final costs for coverage are expected to be released later this month. While Blue Cross and Neighborhood are each selling plans for both individuals and small employers through the exchange for 2014, United is only offering plans for small businesses during the first year.
Roosevelt said Tufts will work with HealthSource RI officials to explore offering plans both for individuals and small businesses in 2015. “I definitely could see Tufts on both,” he said. Roosevelt said Tufts management will start discussions with HealthSource RI after Jan. 1 “to understand what is the greatest need in the market.”
Lang said Tufts’ timeline shows building and expanding HealthSource RI will take time.
“This is year one, and we’re going to start to see results as we start to move forward, but really we’re building this for the long-term,” Lang said. “I think it’s really encouraging that Tufts wants to be part of this going forward, and they’re going to be part of this as we grow and enter the next phase.”
Lang suggested HealthSource RI will urge United to add health plans for individuals in the future, as well. “I think we’ll continue to have conversations with all of them to make sure we continue to offer more choice in both markets,” he said.
Roosevelt expressed optimism about Rhode Island officials’ work building the HealthSource RI exchange, comparing the effort to what happened in Massachusetts when former Gov. Mitt Romney signed a law to create a similar insurance marketplace in the Bay State.
“My impression is, yes, they are making the choices that will work” in Rhode Island, Roosevelt said. “But like any brand-new thing that you roll out, there’s an awful lot to work through.”
Massachusetts’ health-insurance exchange has had more success selling to individuals than small businesses, according to Roosevelt.
“However, that could be because of the array of small-business offerings outside the exchange,” he said. “How that will work in Rhode Island remains to be seen, because if there is a greater array of good choices in the exchange, that could be more successful from day one.”
He also said he doesn’t expect Blue Cross to dominate HealthSource RI the way it has dominated Rhode Island’s health-insurance market historically.
“I think that in the small-business offerings United will give Blue Cross a run for its money, I think in the individual offerings Neighborhood will give them a run for their money, and when we join – as we have done outside the exchange – I think we will offer fresh alternatives,” Roosevelt said.
Date: July 24, 2013