If you have a Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona health insurance policy, you may or may not be affected by the changes mandated by Obamacare. If your policy became effective before March 23, 2010, your plan is considered a “grandfathered” plan. This means that while there may be some minor changes made to your policy by Blue Cross to comply with the law, for the most part you won’t see many changes. Grandfathered plans don’t need to comply with some of the new law’s provisions, and that MAY be either good or bad for you. But here is what will definitely change about your policy:
1. Annual and lifetime limits will be removed. If your Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona health insurance policy has a lifetime limit of $5,000,000, this will be removed. If you get sick and spend 10 years in the hospital and your bills are twenty million dollars, Blue Cross will pay those bills.
2. Pre-existing condition limitations for your children will be removed. If your child is on your Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona health insurance policy and Blue Cross said, when they offered the policy to you, that they would not cover your child’s pre-existing condition, such as asthma, that condition will now be covered.
Your policy will no longer be considered grandfathered, however, if you or Blue Cross make changes to your policy that:
1. eliminate benefits to diagnose or treat a particular condition;
2. increases the amount you have to pay for your coinsurance amount above the level that it was on March 23, 2010. For example, if you raise your deductible in order to pay less each month in premiums;
3. increases your deductibles and out-of-pocket maximums more than the sum of medical inflation plus 15 percentage points from the level of March 23, 2010;
4. reduces the overall annual dollar limit or adds a new overall annual dollar limit, compared to what was in effect on March 23, 2010.
What this means is that you definitely need to speak with a health insurance professional BEFORE you make any changes to your existing policy. Once you make certain changes, you’ll never be able to go back. Feel free to contact a Lehrman Group broker at (800) 600-9663 with any questions you might have before you make a change you may be sorry for later on.
What if you do not currently have a policy from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona, but you applied to them a year ago and they declined to give you a policy? Can you now apply there again and get accepted? The answer is no. After January 1, 2014 they must accept you, but until then, if your pre-existing conditions are the same as before, Blue Cross will decline you again. If they DO decline you again, you can apply for the new federal high-risk health insurance policy, where you will be accepted if you meet the federal criteria, two of which require that you (1) have been turned down for a policy, and (2) go without ANY health insurance coverage for six months. Click here for the information about the high-risk plan. You’ll find requirement criteria, rates and policy information there.
Will your Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona premiums go up or down because of Obamacare? Based upon a study that the national Blue Cross Association commissioned, Blue Cross believes your premiums will definitely increase, due to the new mandated requirements, which are making all health insurance policies richer in benefits than they are today. Just one of those requirements is that you’ll get a check-up exam every year without regard to what tests are run on you or how much money is spent. The government has identified a huge amount of tests that they want conducted annually on all American citizens, and many of the tests are quite expensive. Expensive yes, but not to you, the policyholder. Blue Cross will be required to pay all of the tests in full for you.
If you have any questions regarding your Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona health insurance plan, or any other health plan you may currently have, give Lehrman Group a call at (800) 600-9663. We’ll be happy to provide you with professional guidance.
