In the proposed rate increase filing with California Department of Managed Health Care (DMHC) on August 1, 2014, Anthem Blue Cross included 79 health plans that they would be terminating at the end of year. Titled Exhibit P – Terminated Plans, effective 2015, Anthem Blue Cross lists 39 pre-ACA and 40 post-ACA individual and family plans that will be terminated. Fourteen of the plans scheduled for termination were offered through Covered California.
Blue Cross plan terminations listed
Within the rate filing to justify either their rate increases or decreases with the DMHC, Anthem Blue Cross listed plans whose past claims experience help forecast future expenses for all their individual and family plans offered off and on exchange. Down load the full Anthem Blue Cross Pipeline document with the list of terminated plans at the end of the post. From the filing they state on page 140-
Following are the plans that will be terminated prior to the effective date:
This includes plans that have experience included in the URRT during the experience period and any plans that were not in effect during the experience period but were made available thereafter.
HIPAA plans shrinking in membership
A good chunk of the pre-ACA plans to be terminated are guarantee issue HIPAA plans that individuals and families may have purchased either before or after their COBRA benefits ended. This HIPAA plans tended to be expensive and it would not be unreasonable to assume that many of the plan members have migrated to less expensive tax subsidized plans offered through Covered California.
Pre-ACA plans have larger provider networks
The one benefit these pre-ACA plans have is usually a wider network of providers. Individuals forced to give up their existing pre-ACA plan may find that their current physician may not be in-network for the new ACA plans. Another issue is that Anthem Blue Cross no longer offers PPO plans in all parts of the California. Current members of plans to be terminated will have to transition into an EPO or HMO plan in their region. Anthem Blue Cross no longer offers PPO plans in the regions of 4, 15, 16, 18, or 19. (See: Premium rate increases by carrier, by plan, by region)
Catastrophic plan were seldom purchased
Similar to other insurance companies and health plans, Anthem Blue Cross will be terminating their Catastrophic plans on and off the exchange. The Catastrophic plans with $6,350 deductible were only slightly less expensive than the Bronze plans with a $5,000 deductible. Consequently, only 1% of Californians signed up for the Catastrophic plan through Covered California.
Just adding children’s dental benefits?
The other “on-exchange” or Covered California plans may only be having their model number terminated. Because all Covered California plans must now include pediatric dental, this benefit increase may have necessitated Anthem Blue Cross to terminate plans in their system and reissue the same plan with children’s dental and a new model number. The off exchange plans always required the purchase of pediatric dental, but there is impetus to rename off exchange plans with the same metal tier levels used in Covered California. So the termination of the off-exchange plans may be just to change the name.
I requested clarification in an email on August 20th about the terminations, but Anthem Blue Cross has yet to reply to my inquiry. Consequently, aside from the fact that Anthem says they are terminating individual and family plans in California, we don’t know which plans will be closed for ever and which ones might be undergoing a simple name change.
List of plans Anthem Blue Cross 2015 Terminated Plans
| Anthem Blue Cross | ||
| Exhibit P – Terminated Plans | ||
| Individual and Family | ||
| Effective January 1, 2015 | ||
Pre ACA Terminated Plans |
||
| Plan ID | Name/Product | |
| 06AY | HMO Saver | |
| 06AZ | HMO Select | |
| 06C0 | Individual HMO | |
| 06C1 | HMO Saver | |
| 06C2 | HMO Select | |
| 06C3 | HIPAA Select HMO | |
| 06C4 | HIPAA HMO Saver | |
| 06C5 | Conversion HMO | |
| 07TQ | HMO | |
| 0ADG | HIPAA 2000 | |
| 0ADS | HIPAA Share 2500 | |
| 0ADV | HIPAA Share 2500 | |
| 0ADW | HIPAA Conversion | |
| 0AE0 | Group Conversion HMO | |
| 0AFW | HIPAA Select HMO | |
| 0AFX | HIPAA HMO Saver | |
| 0G44 | HMO Saver | |
| 0G5B | Individual HMO | |
| 0G5C | HMO Saver | |
| 0G5Y | HMO | |
| 0JT7 | HIPAA PPO Share 5000 | |
| 0JT8 | HIPAA PPO Share 7500 | |
| 0JTX | Conversion PPO Share 7500 | |
| 06AH | PPO_Share 3500 | |
| 06AV | PPO_Share 3500 | |
| 06AW | PPO_Share 7500 | |
| 06AX | PPO_Share 5000 | |
| 06BX | PPO_Share Plus 3500 | |
| 06BY | PPO_Share Plus 7500 | |
| 06BZ | PPO_Share Plus 5000 | |
| 07TU | PPO_Share 2500 | |
| 07TV | PPO_Share 1500 | |
| 07TW | HIPAA Share 2500 | |
| 0ADJ | HIPAA Share 1500 | |
| 0ADQ | HIPAA Share 1500 | |
| 0ADT | HIPAA Share 1500 | |
| OADY | PPO_Share 500 | |
| 0ADZ | PPO_Share 1000 | |
| PE41 | MRMIP Graduate Plan | |
Post ACA Terminated Plans |
||
| Plan ID | Plan/Product | Exchange |
| 27603CA1xxxxxx | Anthem – | |
| 140001 | Catastrophic DirectAccess PPO | On |
| 160007 | Catastrophic DirectAccess EPO | On |
| 160001 | Bronze DirectAccess – cacg EPO | On |
| 140002 | Bronze DirectAccess – cacf PPO | On |
| 200001 | Bronze DirectAccess w/H.S.A. – caci EPO | On |
| 190001 | Bronze DirectAccess w/H.S.A. – cach PPO | On |
| 160005 | Silver DirectAccess – cbmm EPO | On |
| 140006 | Silver DirectAccess – cbmq PPO | On |
| 150003 | Silver Guilded Access – cbmu HMO | On |
| 160003 | Gold DirectAccess -ccat EPO | On |
| 150001 | Gold Guilded Access – ccau HMO | On |
| 160004 | Platinum DirectAccess – ceac EPO | On |
| 140005 | Platinum DirectAccess – ceab PPO | On |
| 150002 | Platinum Guided Access – cead HMO | On |
| 230001 | Catastrophic Guided Access PPO | Off |
| 250008 | Catastrophic Guided Access EPO | Off |
| 250001 | Core Direct Access – cacg EPO | Off |
| 230010 | Core Direct Access – cacf PPO | Off |
| 270002 | Core DirectAccess w/H.S.A – caci EPO | Off |
| 260001 | Core DirectAccess w/H.S.A. – cach PPO | Off |
| 250002 | Core Direct Access – caci EPO | Off |
| 230011 | Core Direct Access – cacj PPO | Off |
| 250004 | Core Direct Access – caao EPO | Off |
| 250003 | Core Direct Access – caan EPO | Off |
| 230006 | Core DirectAccess – cacs PPO | Off |
| 230005 | Core Direct Access – caae PPO | Off |
| 250005 | Core DirectAccess w/child dental – cdao EPO | OFF |
| 230007 | Core DirectAccess w/child dental – cdae PPO | Off |
| 250006 | Essential DirectAccess – cbmm EPO | Off |
| 230008 | Essential DirectAccess – cbmq PPO | Off |
| 240001 | Essential Guided Access – cbmu HMO | Off |
| 250007 | Essential DirectAccess – cbng EPO | Off |
| 230009 | Essential DirectAccess – cbnk PPO | Off |
| 250010 | Essential DirectAccess – cbno EPO | Off |
| 230002 | Essentials DirectAccess – cbns PPO | Off |
| 250011 | Preferred DirectAccess – ccat EPO | Off |
| 230003 | Preferred DirectAccess – ccas PPO | Off |
| 240002 | Preferred Guided Access – ccau HMO | Off |
| 250012 | Premier DirectAccess – ceac EPO | Off |
| 230004 | Premier DirectAccess – ceab PPO | Off |
| 240003 | Premier Guided Access – cead HMO | Off |
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