Illinois 2015 Plan Participation & Certification

[AllenChicago]

March 3, 2014

Illinois Department of Insurance notification to Health Insurers: The 2015 plan certification process begins on April 1, 2014. Any QHP issuer withdrawing from the Illinois Marketplace for 2015, must notify the IDOI before April 1st.

Link to Memo: http://insurance.illinois.gov/cb/2014/CB2014-02.pdf
-ac

 

[AllenChicago]

May 6, 2014

Even though March 31st was the deadline for companies to notify the Illinois Department of Insurance if they were not participating in the 2015 Illinois Marketplace, AETNA and HUMANA are still making up their mind.

This CRAINS article also discusses how BCBS-IL captured 200,000 of the 217,000 Illinois Marketplace enrollees and what the other companies need to do in order to improve their enrollment numbers for the upcoming 2015 Open Enrollment.

ARTICLE: Crain's Chicago Business : Subscription Center
ac

 

[AllenChicago]

Friday 5/23/2014

Apparently some health insurers configured their Qualified Health Plan prescription drug coverage to discriminate against people who need expensive medications. The Illinois Dept of Insurance is now taking action to ensure that this practice will not re-occur in 2015.

Link to IDOI Notice: http://insurance.illinois.gov/cb/2014/CB2014-08.pdf
-ac

 

[AllenChicago]

June 12, 2014

The deadline for submitting plans to be on the Illinois Marketplace (healthcare.gov) for 2015 was June 10th. Even though BCBS-IL captured 92% of the market share in 2014...more plans (and companies?) will be on the Illinois Exchange for 2015 enrollment.

Excerpt:
"The plans to be offered for 2015 include 306 individual plans and 198 plans for small groups. Last year the exchange offered 120 individual and 45 small group plans. The state did not say which carriers submitted plans."

Story: Crain's Chicago Business : Subscription Center
ac

 

[AllenChicago]

August 22, 2014

It's looking more likely that ASSURANT and UNITED HEALTHCARE will be on the Illinois Exchange/Marketplace when Open Enrollment commences on November 15, 2014.

STORY: Assurant, UnitedHealth may sell through Illinois exchange | LifeHealthPro

If they drop the ball and come in with too high premiums, Assurant and United Healthcare will have to fight with Aetna, Humana, Land-of-Lincoln, et.al. over the 8% of enrollees who didn't choose Blue Cross. BCBSIL will capture 92% of the 2015 enrollees once again.
ac

 

[AllenChicago]

Friday, November 7, 2014

Today the State of Illinois released samples of 2015 state-wide premiums, along with other 2015 related data. Here are two articles that provide a high level summary. I can't find the State of Illinois report that they're referring to. If anyone else can find it, please post it for us. Thanx.

Tribune Article: Obamacare rates in Illinois: Higher premiums, more options in 2015 - Chicago Tribune

Also: Illinois Department of Insurance Announces Additional Competitors and More Consumer Options for Year Two of Open Enrollment

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[AllenChicago]

Sunday, November 9, 2014

Illinois agents, you need to familiarize yourself with all the new companies and plans here in Illinois for 2015 Open Enrollment.

On Healthcare.gov, there are now a whopping 140+ plans to choose from! For example, companies On-Exchange this year for Chicago/Cook County are:

1. Assurant (new)
2. Blue Cross
3. Coventry
4. Humana
5. IlliniCare Health (new)
6. Land of Lincoln
7. United HealthCare

Go to https://www.healthcare.gov/see-plans/ and run some sample quotes. Blue Cross has some stiff price competition from the lesser-known carriers, but the difference is not that large, IMO. It looks like the Blue Cross average premium increase from 2014 to 2015 is approximately 8% average, across the metal levels.
-ac

 

[cjmac]

Still no new carriers in the downstate market. BCBS, Health Alliance, Coventry, Land of Lincoln. I was hoping Assurant would be a player outside of Chicago but they are not listed on Healthcare.gov via the website. Aetna's network is pretty good down here.

BCBS no longer has the lowest rates. Health Alliance and Land of Lincoln are for the most part.

I do not have enough info on Land of Lincoln down here and do not even get me started on Health Alliance.

Health Alliance is using 2 different platforms (private and public). The marketplace options (public) are all POS or HMO dominated. These same plans are rated differently on each platform. Really not too helpful in the rural market or if you have health issues. It is almost like a non-option.....Or Un-vitation. I thought the marketplace and subsidies were supposed to assist people with the no pre-x and whatnot. So many people receiving a subsidy through the marketplace have health issues and must see specialists who are not part of the HMO network. You receive an HMO Policy that explains your in-network benefits and an Indemnity Policy that explains your out-of-network
benefits.

Health Alliance really needed more affordable PPO options. Heck, most clinics and private practices hate working with HMO due to the administrative work involved.