Affordable insurance for full timer in S.D.

Old-Biscuit wrote:

Thanks for that info.
Seems Avera decided to go ahead and comply early........ALL states must have muti-state plans within 4 yrs. of ACA.
Avera is going to be the only game available for SD FTrs.

A clarification: a multi-state plan isn't necessarily what it sounds like.

Basically, a multi-state plan is one that is overseen by the Office of Personnel Management, presumably because the OPM has experience in managing health insurance for federal employees.

You can read about what multi-state plans really are here. (South Dakota currently does not offer any "multi-state" plans.)

Here are a few items from the FAQ:

Why should I choose a Multi-State Plan?
A Multi-State Plan option is a high-quality plan offered on the Marketplace, under contract with OPM, the agency that administers health insurance for Federal employees. OPM negotiates plan benefits, monitors plan performance, and oversees plan compliance with the Affordable Care Act, so you can be assured of consistent, quality coverage.

Note that it doesn't say anything about a person being covered when he is out of his home state.

If I move to a different State, can I keep my Multi-State Plan coverage?
A few MSP options have a nationwide network. In future years, our goal is to expand reciprocity in plan options across State lines.

This shows that a multi-state plan might have a nationwide provider network, but it is not required to.

In fact, it's not even required to have a state-wide network:

If a Multi-State Plan is offered in a particular State, will it be available everywhere in the State or might it be available in only certain parts of the State?
It depends. While OPM is encouraging statewide coverage in the Multi-State Plan (MSP) Program, it is not required of MSP insurers at this time. OPM is, however, requiring MSP insurers that offer partial coverage in a State to submit a plan for extending coverage throughout the State.

What Avera has done has nothing to do with multi-state plans. Instead, it has made available a network that extends outside South Dakota, and evidently is the only one that has done so.

On another part of the site, I found this:

The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has entered into a contract with the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association to offer more than 150 Multi-State Plan (MSP) options in 30 States and the District of Columbia on the Health Insurance Marketplace.

This indicates that currently, all actual multi-state plans are through Blue Cross. Blue Cross is known for having an extensive nationwide network, so it might be a good choice for a fulltimer, but that's independent of its classification as a "multi-state" plan. And it would be imperative for a fulltimer to verify the network associated with a particular plan before signing up because Blue Cross does offer some HMO plans, which usually have very limited provider networks.

For fulltimers, in particular, classification as a multi-state plan doesn't mean anything; it's the provider network that is key.