Health insurance carrier Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas has announced it will eliminate its Blue Choice PPO plan next year — a move that will affect hundreds of thousands of consumers statewide.
The change is being made because the carrier paid out $400 million more in claims than it collected in premiums for the product in 2014.
“We felt like the PPO was not going to be a sustainable option,” said Dr. Dan McCoy, chief medical officer and divisional senior vice president for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas.
Around 367,000 Texans have such PPO plans through the health insurance company right now, company officials said. The insurance carrier expects to offer another product once open enrollment in 2016 health insurance plans begins Nov. 1.
“A new product has been filed that we believe will give you a flexible choice for your clients,” Blue Cross Blue Shield said in a communication to insurance brokers last week. “We will be able to share information about that product if and when it is approved by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services closer to open enrollment.”
Eliminating the Blue Choice PPO plans will not affect customers who have Blue Cross group health PPO plans through their employers. The change also will not affect those whose PPO plans were grandfathered in 2010.
Date: July 27, 2015