June 23, 2016 – In the interest of being able to serve the collective health needs of nearly 3 million members, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota (Blue Cross) is refocusing our individual plan offerings. Starting in 2017, our presence in the individual market will be limited to our Blue Plus HMO.
Blue Plus will continue to offer Accountable Care Organization (ACO) plans for individuals and families. These plans include partnerships with Minnesota’s health care systems to better manage patient care and currently serve approximately 13,000 members. Additionally, group policies offered through employers and the administration of state public programs are not affected by this change.
The individual market remains in transition and we look forward to working toward a more stable path with policy leaders here in Minnesota and at the national level. Shifts and changes in health plan participation and market segments have contributed to a volatile individual market, where costs and prices have been escalating at unprecedented levels. Based on current medical claim trends, Blue Cross is projecting a total loss of more than $500 million in the individual segment over three years.
The last day of coverage for all other Blue Cross individual and family plans, other than those offered through Blue Plus HMO, will be December 31, 2016. The change affects approximately 103,000 Minnesotans who have purchased Blue Cross coverage on their own, through an agent or broker, or on MNsure. We understand and regret the difficulty we know this causes for some of our members. We will be notifying all of our members individually and work with them to assess and transition to alternative coverage options in 2017.