BCBS of Texas to drop individual PPO plans in 2016

This is from the Escapees RV Club Forum today:

Posted Today, 07:17 PM
Unfortunately this does look like it will be the new trend in health insurance as insurance companies figure out how to stay afloat under the new Affordable Care Act. PPO plans are very costly to insurance companies as they can not control costs as well as they can with HMO/EPO network plans. Most insurance companies are losing money and only the very large ones are able to stay solvent in this environment. Assurant Health could not handle the losses it incurred so, yes, they are out of the individual health insurance market in 2016--after 120 years of profitable business. BCBS of TX might have followed suit if it did not have it's other products to prop it up as it lost $400 Million on it's PPO plans in 2014.

Will there be other comparable options in Texas in 2016? That remains to be seen. Plans will not be revealed until October more than likely. Nothing like last minute, huh? I can't even venture a guess at what will be available in Texas now that Aetna has bought Humana and Anthem has bought Cigna. Anthem is a BCBS company so it is unlikely Cigna will have any PPO offerings in Texas since BCBS companies can not compete against each other. Then again, the acquisition isn't supposed to occur until late 2016...so I am speculating here.

Whatever is available rest assured we are committed to helping the RV community, and Escapees members specifically, to find the best option available whether you are in Texas, Florida, or South Dakota.

The RVer Insurance Exchange (rverinsurance.com and rverinsuranceexchange.com) will launch August 1, 2015 (look for forthcoming announcements about this from Escapees RV Club). We will post updates to the site about 2016 health insurance options as soon as information is made available to us! Note that if you currently have a BCBS of TX PPO plan then you will be able to keep that plan through 2015 (longer if you have a pre-2011 grandfathered plan)

Edited by KyleHenson, Today, 07:20 PM.
Kyle Henson RVer Insurance Exchange
Living on the road with my family since '11
Escapees-Logo-cropped.png

Please leave politics out of this discussion.

DianneOK, moderator

rexlion wrote:

GMandJM wrote:
Looks like BCBS-TX wants to move all the individual plan subscribers to HMOs or offload them into the Affordable Care/Obamacare pool. Good grief.

Bad news for independent contractors. I hope that doesn't turn into a national trend.

The last bit says it will still cover anyone whose plan predates 2010.

Thanks for the info.

I have a BCBS PPO through the ACA marketplace here in OK, so I doubt there's any "offloading" going on in TX. Their PPO plans are offered both inside and outside of Obamacare, so that can't be the factor. I think the company simply guessed wrong on their plan pricing.

Not sure if we're even comparing the the same thing. You have exactly what BCBS is taking away from people in Texas.

The linked article said BCBS TX will no longer be offering non-employer-based (private) PPO plans. This is disappointing because BCBS is one of the top insurers for independent contractors, who pay for their insurance totally out of pocket.

For Texas-based independent contractors and private-pay individuals, the only plans BCBS will offer are HMOs and those are only going to be offered via the ACA website. Anybody who doesn't want an HMO (and many people won't because they are so limited), are essentially being "offloaded" into the ACA marketplace.

You're right: BCBS TX miscalculated. Unfortunately, instead of sucking it up and doing it better/right in future, they're eliminating a much-needed insurance option. As said before, I hope this isn't going to be a national trend.

And although I recall someone somewhere promising that we'd all be ensured the same coverage we had prior to ACA, that wasn't my point.

No need for anyone to get their knickers in a knot and start with the flames, vitriol and a plethoa of CAPS.

Some people think ACA is the best thing since indoor plumbing....other people not so much. We get that.

GMandJM wrote:
Looks like BCBS-TX wants to move all the individual plan subscribers to HMOs or offload them into the Affordable Care/Obamacare pool. Good grief.

Bad news for independent contractors. I hope that doesn't turn into a national trend.

The last bit says it will still cover anyone whose plan predates 2010.

Thanks for the info.

I have a BCBS PPO through the ACA marketplace here in OK, so I doubt there's any "offloading" going on in TX. Their PPO plans are offered both inside and outside of Obamacare, so that can't be the factor. I think the company simply guessed wrong on their plan pricing.

Old-Biscuit wrote:


Hang on to your hat.

And your wallet!

One bit of good news is that BCBS FEHB will offer Self Plus One plans for 2016. Hopefully that will be less expensive than Family plans for retirees whose kids have aged out of coverage, single parents with only one child and/or child-free couples.

Lots of changes happen come 2016....that was part of the ACA Bill nobody read.

Premium increases, policy/coverage changes etc.

Hang on to your hat.

Looks like BCBS-TX wants to move all the individual plan subscribers to HMOs or offload them into the Affordable Care/Obamacare pool. Good grief.

Bad news for independent contractors. I hope that doesn't turn into a national trend.

The last bit says it will still cover anyone whose plan predates 2010.

Thanks for the info.