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August 02, 2013 at 02:25 PM
California, Maine and Washington are just three of the states that have come out with information about public health insurance exchange plan menus in the past few days.
California said it will offer a total of six plans in its Small Business Health Options Program small-group exchange, including Blue Shield of California — but not including WellPoint’s Anthem unit.
Managers of the state’s Covered California SHOP exchange say average rates for moderately generous “silver” level plans in San Francisco County, for example, will start at $223, and that the average price of the three lowest-priced silver plans will be 28 percent cheaper than the average price of comparable small-group coverage in 2013.
Maine has released hundreds of documents related to the two carriers that want to sell coverage through its exchange — Anthem and Maine Community Health Options — but no clear summaries comparing 2014 rates with 2013 rates.
South Dakota posted a crisp summary showing just how many plans the three carriers in its individual and SHOP exchanges will offer in various categories of coverage, and how much the plans will cost.
In South Dakota, individuals will have access to only one ultra-generous “platinum” level plan, and that plan will cost a 21-year-old nonsmoker $316 per month. The same young nonsmoker could choose from a list of 24 moderately generous silver level plans, with prices ranging from $187 to $305. The young nonsmoker could choose from a list of three high-deductible catastrophic plans, with monthly premiums ranging from $165 to $224.
Some of the other states with major exchange “qualified health plan” announcements include New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio and Washington state.
In some states, the flurry of information is coming now simply because the states decided to release the information now.
In other states, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services will be running a “federally facilitated exchange,” but the state has agreed to review the exchange QHP filings. In the states helping HHS with FFE plan management, state recommendations about the exchange QHP menus were due July 31.
In some of the plan management partnership states, officials have released some details because of the nature of local customs or public information laws.
Earlier this week, for example, officials in Florida, Georgia and Indiana warned that Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) insurance product requirements could lead to dramatic increases to unsubsidized rates for young, healthy men.
