BlueCross BlueShield Of Western New York (a Division Of .
BlueCross BlueShield of Western New York (a division of HealthNow)Individual2020 Public CommentsWe received this Notice of Proposed Premium Rate Change on 6/5/19. The notice states we have 30 days from the dateof the notice to comment. The date on the notice was May 13, 2019. That seems like a great way to not have peoplecomment on this increase by not giving them a lot of time to respond. Now instead of 30 days we have 8! Who's deskhas this been sitting on?!? We should have received this weeks ago! We are paying an increase for what? What doesinsurance pay for anymore? How is still being considered affordable? We have a lot of employees who are struggling asit is and every year they pay more and more for insurance but still can't afford to use it or don't because the know theywill receive a bill they can't pay anyway because the deductible is so high. Something has to give! We can't keep havingincreases every single year! I guess we should be thankful it wasn't a double digit increase (insert an eye roll!).Insurance plans are already outrageously overpriced. Perhaps giant insurance companies should look at their internalcosts. They spend a great deal of money analyzing ways to control my services. Blue Cross of WNY had a 55 millionsurplus in 2016. Reserves in 2017 were 1.4 billion! Dave Anderson made 1.76 million, Steve Swift, 961,800. I mean,really! I run my own business. I am not subsidized. My business is not subsidized. Start controlling costs of insuranceplans for private buyers WITHOUT MAKING BENEFIT CUTS. Thank you for giving buyers this opportunity to comment onrising premiums. The ACA attempted to create more competition but they could not compete with the big insurancecompanies. Don't let them raise prices . They are laughing all the way to the bank.I'm writing regarding a possible increase to the Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield Medicare Supplemental Plan (Plan N). Ican bearly afford the insurance now. I'm apatient and receive ss disability but have no other income. I'm askingthat you not approve the increase of almost 100 more a year, between medicare and supplemental, I'm paying almost 4,000 a month. I cannot afford an increase, please help!
BlueShield of Northeastern New York (a division of HealthNow)Individual2020 Public CommentsBlueshield of Northeastern NY request for a 19.2% premium increase next year is outrageous. I'm asking the DFS tocarefully look at this request as the requested amount will make insurance to expensive and we may have to drop ourcoverage. Thank you,A potential 19.2% rise in my health care premiums for 2020 would be prohibitive. My premiums continue to go up andthe coverage being offered is always less than was offered in the prior year. As an overall healthy individual I wouldprobably consider no insurance if my premium increased 19.2%. Please try and hold the line to current rates. Theinsurers need to become more cost efficient and keep their expenses down, rather than charge the consumers for theiradministrative cost inefficiencies.Hello, I have just received notice from BSNENY that they are asking for a 19.2% rate increase in premium for my healthinsurance plan for 2020. My husband and I are retired (involuntary early retirement) with a fixed income. There was arate increase of 16% for our plan from 2017 to 2018. While the increase was small from 2018 to 2019, we will faceserious hardship with another 19% increase in 2020. Our medical claims and BSNENY payments to providers have beenwell below our annual premium. We have spent over 20% of our fixed income over the last two years, and continuing,towards premiums, deductibles and copays. I believe a request for a 19.2% increase in premium for 2020 is grosslyunjustified and callous. Even a 5-8% increase for us will have a serious impact on our expenses from a fixed income. Wehope that my premium will not be increased by more than 5% for 2020. Thank you very much for your understandingand consideration. Sincerely,BSNENY was found to have overcharged for the plan premium I had in 2017, so it reduced its premium rate for 2018 tocompensate for that overcharge. Now they are seeking to raise the premium by 20%. I am retired, on a fixed incomeand will not be receiving a cost of living adjustment next year and can’t afford to pay more for my premium. I reducedfrom a gold to a silver level plan to reduce my costs and now I’m paying more for my co-pays. I will be paying more thisyear for reduced coverage. That’s not fair!
BlueCross BlueShield of Western New York (a division of HealthNow)Individual2020 Public CommentsThe cost of insurance is exceptionally high. I wouldn't mind a rate hike if I were to receive additional benefits or lowerco-pays. I would appreciate receiving as a consumer a line by line comparison of the 2019 vs. 2020 cost of benefitsalong with the rates for each item. I believe these companies need to be more transparent and justify their rateincreases.I write again this year to note my comment and request that your office reject any increases in health insurancepremiums. Rates are increasing at an astounding rate that are not equaled in NY cost of living increases, wagesincreases, etc. I have seen my Family Monthly health care cost go from 1,076.56 in 2011 to 1,908.87 in 2019. I amnow in receipt of Excellus' recent letter asking for an increase of 7.4% for next year. My comments remain the same asbefore. As a partner in a small to midsize business in Western New York I continue to see these significant rateincreases over a time where we are still dealing with fallouts of the great recession. In my opinion these rate increasesare simply not reasonable and have a significant impact upon both myself and the business I am a part of. When onedeals with such a large increase in cost each year for an employee on such plan, the natural balancing of providing otherbenefits are affected. Seeing these increases each year just makes me cringe as a hardworking New York State citizenand American. Health insurance should not be about profits for insurance companies but rather should be for thebetter of mankind and a benefit to keep New York State citizens healthy and handle injuries. Without going on and on,it is my request that there be no premium rate increases this year because Excellus has had plenty of significantincreases over the past handful of years.
BlueShield of Northeastern New York (a division of HealthNow)Individual2020 Public CommentsI recently received notice from BSNENY that our premium would increase by 19.5%. I noted on this website healthnowrequested 10.0%? I rate BSNENY highly as an organization but would appeal that 19.5% is a steep increase for a premedicare retiree. Thank you.Received mail notification dated June 5, 2019 from BlueShield of Northeastern NY (Healthnow New York) that myindividual Silver plan, OON, premium will increase 20% if approved for 2020. On the DFS website the request ratechange from my insurer to the DFS shows 10%, (an average, with a range going up to 20.6%). My personal letter fromBlueShield of NENY clearly states 20% for my plan. This is confusing that the insurer is asking DFS for 10% but plan tocharge me 20%. 20% is extreme and NOT what I consider affordable. Until now, I have praised the ACA, the New YorkState of Health and most local insurers. I am years old and have no other option for health insurance but theindividual market place. I spent many weeks choosing this plan as optimal for my situation. If I must switch to a bronzeplan for lower premiums, I may have a health problem due to less coverage, or a financial problem with the deductiblesand copays. Thank you for your oversight and I hope my 20% increase will not be approved.insurance goes up every year and as a conscientious tax paying american my family gets less and less coverage andmore and more bureaucracy. we are healthy and would like to keep it that way. if the pharma companies would actuallyreinvest their profits to their clients we could afford and attain excellent health care. How many millions/billions ofdollars, houses, cars does one person need when there are people suffering all over the country.
HealthNow New YorkIndividual2020 Public CommentsPlease deny this rate increase. This increase my out of pocket and makes preventive care too expensive. This is nothealth insurance, it is a huge tax.Please see -2020-rate-request/ for our full comments.HealthNow is a non-profit plan that operates upstate and has about 9,421 members in 2019, a 31 percent increase from2018. This enrollment increase comes after the carrier reduced its 2019 rates by 3.2 percent. It also reflects a possiblerebound from a big decline in enrollment it experienced in 2018 after raising rates by 31 percent. Even with the bigrate hike it experienced in 2018, HealthNow is one of the lowest cost carriers in the individual market at 510 permember per-month, compared to the average of 581. It is requesting a 10 percent average rate increase, just a littleover the state average. However some members would see an increase of 21 percent. Those members wouldexperience some of the biggest increases in the individual market, behind only Oscar and United members. Several ofthose members wrote to DFS. One said “I am writing this due to the never ending battle that I find myself in as a soleproprietor I am opposing the rate change due to the reality that my income does not increase yearly, and I am notable to pay that much more for health insurance. I will have to stop having health insurance and risk having a medicalemergency in order to keep my home and keep my business open in 2020.” HCFANY asks that the Departmentconsider lowering HealthNow’s request to ensure that its members can stay in the market. There are a few areas inHealthNow’s application in which it may be possible to reduce their request. Those include its expense ratio whichincorporates a higher profit margin than most carriers does, and its request for a cost-sharing reduction adjustment. A.HealthNow’s expense ratio is increasing and it is taking a bigger surplus than most other carriers HealthNow’s expenseratio of 14.9 percent is one of the highest in the individual market. It is also an increase over last year’s 14 percent and2018’s 11.2 percent. The carrier’s application does not explain why its administrative costs are increasing. Its membersnote the need for HealthNow to control these costs. One wrote “a potential 19.2 percent rise in my health carepremiums for 2020 would be prohibitive. My premiums continue to go up and the coverage being offered is always lessthan was offered in the prior year. As an overall healthy individual I would probably consider no insurance if mypremium increased 19.2 %. The insurers need to become more cost efficient and keep their expenses down, ratherthan charge the consumers for their administrative cost inefficiencies.” One explanation provided in its filings is that itplans on taking a two percent surplus. Only three other carriers are requesting 2 percent – most are asking for just 1 or1.5 percent as a profit or surplus. It is especially unclear why HealthNow, as a non-profit, would need such a largemargin. As one of its members argued in their comment, “Blue Cross of WNY had a 55 million surplus in 2016. Reservesin 2017 were 1.4 billion!” HealthNow members should not have to pay for more of a surplus than is really needed,especially if it requires such a large rate increase. B. HealthNow is asking for a possibly duplicative adjustment to makeup for the federal government’s failure to pay for cost-sharing reductions HealthNow is one of the carriers that askedfor an additional adjustment to make up for the federal government’s refusal to pay for cost-sharing reductions. Whenthe federal government stopped those payments in 2018, the Department stepped in and approved appropriate ratechanges. HealthNow provides no explanation in its filing of why that initial rate adjustment was insufficient. TheDepartment should not allow duplicative adjustments for federal actions that occurred in the past. Without moreinformation, it appears that HealthNow received a rate increase to account for this issue already and that consumersare paying for it in the base rate. HCFANY therefore strongly urges the Department to disallow any adjustment for theloss of cost-sharing reduction payments in 2020 across the entire individual market in general or specifically forHealthNow. Thank you for your attention.
HealthNow New YorkIndividual2020 Public CommentsYour comments have been forwarded to the appropriate area for review. Regards, Consumer Assistance Unit ? NewYork State Department of Financial Services One Commerce Plaza, Albany, NY ?12257 Phone1: (800) 342-3736? ?Phone2: (518) 474-6600? ?Fax: (212) 480-6282 ?consumers@dfs.ny.gov ? www.dfs.ny.gov -----Original Message----From:Sent: Thursday, June 27, 2019 9:16 AM To:dfs.sm.Consumers consumers@dfs.ny.gov Subject: premiums ATTENTION: This email came from an external source.Do not open attachments or click on links from unknown senders or unexpected emails. Hello- I just received a noticefrom Blue Shield of NENY that they are proposing a rate change that would increase my already obscenely highpremium by 19.2% or MORE! in 2020. I already am struggling to pay my premium. I am asking you to not approve sucha hike. Thank youSent from my iPhone /consumers@dfs.ny.gov
Received mail notification dated June 5, 2019 from BlueShield of Northeastern NY (Healthnow New York) that my individual Silver plan, OON, premium will increase 20% if approved for 2020. On the DFS website the request rate change from my insurer to the DFS shows 10%, (an average, with a range going up to 20.6%). My personal letter from
2022 SUMMARY OF BENEFITS January 1, 2022 - December 31, 2022 Medicare Blue Choice . (H3351-011) This is a summary of drug and health services covered by Excellus BlueCross BlueShield. Excellus BlueCross BlueShield contracts with the Federal Government and is an HMO plan with a Medicare contract. Enrollment in Excellus BlueCross BlueShield .
The BlueCross BlueShield Medicaid Formulary Guide is a list of drugs to help guide physicians and phar-macists to select the medication that provides the appropriate treatment for the best price. IntroductIon BlueCross Blue Shield of Western New York has established an independent committee of practicing physicians
BlueCross’ drug formulary. The generic immediate- release doxycycline will continue to be available for BlueCross members, saving them substantial out-of-pocket expenses. If a BlueCross member in your care still needs doxycycline, you can notify his or her pharmacy to switc
BlueShield of Northeastern New York, a division of HealthNow New York Inc., an independent licensee of the BlueCross BlueShield Association Questions: Call 1-800-888-1238 or visit us at www.bsneny.com.
May 04, 2018 · BlueShield of Northeastern New York, a division of HealthNow New York Inc., an independent licensee of the BlueCross BlueShield Association Questions: Call 1-800-888-1238 or visit us at www.bsneny.com . If you aren’t clear about any of the underlined terms used in this form, see the Glossary. You can view the Glossary
CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield is the shared business name of CareFirst of Maryland, Inc. and Group Hospitalization and Medical Services, Inc. CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield Medicare . receives an individual member ID card with the name of the PGD on the card. . covering dentist, or off
dba BlueCross BlueShield of Western New York and BlueShield of Northeastern New York Technical Proposal Section 5.2.4 Page 3 of 5 Your Rights to Continue Coverage: There are agencies that can help if you want to continue your coverage after it ends.
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