Blue Cross Refunds Linked to Reform
Monday, September 20 2010
by Laura Leslie
BCBSNC CEO Brad Wilson (L) and NC Insurance Comm. Wayne Goodwin (Photo: Laura Leslie)
Jeremy Loeb: More than 200,000 North Carolinians will be getting hefty refund checks from Blue Cross Blue Shield. Laura Leslie has more.
Laura Leslie: The state’s largest health insurer announced today it’s refunding nearly $156 million dollars to customers who held individual Blue Cross policies before March 23rd of this year. State Insurance chief Wayne Goodwin called the refund "historic." He says federal reform changed the rules for reserve requirements for individual policies.
Wayne Goodwin: This unique refund does not represent instances where policyholders are paying too much in premiums. Instead, it represents a return of contract reserves that are no longer necessary because of changes caused by federal health care reform.
Goodwin says the average refund will be a little more than 1.5 times the policy’s monthly premium. Only individual policyholders in Blue Advantage or Blue Options are eligible. The checks should arrive by the end of the year. Laura Leslie, NC Public Radio, WUNC.
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