Blue Cross Blue Shield North Carolina to Refund Almost $156 Million to Health Insurance Policyholders

Do you wonder how your health insurance premiums can possiblly be that high? What could those seemingly exorbitant health insurance premiums possibly be paying for? Well, fortunately for the some health insurance policyholders in North Carolina, the North Carolina Department of Insurance decided to take a closer look at some health insurance premium increases requested by Blue Cross Blue Shield North Carolina, and they did not like what they saw.

Blue Cross Blue Shield North Carolina had already come under fire in a Consumers Union report for setting aside $1.4 billion in surplus even while it raised health insurance premiums for consumers, but once the North Carolina Department of Insurance put the insurer’s health insurance rates under scrutiny, it discovered that those reserves deserved a further look. Upon further review, the North Carolina Department of Insurance found that Blue Cross Blue Shield North Carolina had been setting aside reserves to pay health insurance claims in 2014 and beyond, even though under healthcare reform, many plans may cease to exist in their current forms.

As a result, some 215,000 North Carolinans with individual health insurance policies issued by Blue Cross Blue Shield North Carolina will receive refunds of almost $156 in accordance with an agreement reached by the Blues and the North Carolina Department of Insurance. Refunds to policyholders will depend on the health insurance premiums paid, but will generally be the equivalent of one and a half months of health insurance premiums. The average refund is expected to be close to $700 per policyholder.

It’s unclear whether other health insurers are using similar formulas to calculate health insurance premiums, but the Department of Health and Human Services has already noted that the Blue Cross Blue Shield North Carolina
case may portend a larger issue at play.

Are you a member of Blue Cross Blue Shield North Carolina ? Tell us about it!

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