A recent article in The Business Journal by Owen Covington begs the question: Will North Carolina have a marketplace or a mini-mart for health insurance in the fall?
A key part of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is the Health Insurance Marketplace, scheduled to open in October. The marketplace is designed to give families, individuals and small businesses “more choice and control over..health insurance options.” A short video on healthcare.gov, the Department of Health & Human Services’ healthcare reform website, describes the marketplace as a place to “compare a wide range of quality health insurance plans.”
Mr. Covington reports that the range of insurance plans offered through the marketplace in North Carolina may not be as wide as originally hoped. He reports that individuals buying health insurance coverage in the marketplace this fall will be choosing among products from only two or three carriers (BlueCross BlueShield of North Carolina, Coventry and FirstCarolinaCare Insurance Co. in Pinehurst). That compares to about seven carriers now offering individual insurance products in North Carolina. Small business will see products from only one carrier in the SHOP (the marketplace for small businesses), BlueCross BlueShield of North Carolina. Read the full article here.
