Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina (BCBS NC) has publicly announced that it will allow for 240,000 of their non group policyholders to keep their “grandmothered” plans (different from grandfathered plans because they either did not exist or have changed since the federal health law passed on March 23, 2010) for one more year. It’s no surprise that a majority — most of whom are younger and less risky — has taken up this offer.
There’s something else worth thinking about that may have been forgotten when trying to keep up with the federal health law’s extensive list of changes. The administration has knocked on insurance companies’ doors yet again to request that such transition policies be extended for an additional TWO years. BCBSNC has yet to announce whether they will grant these policyholders a two-year extension. If the company does, the market will just have to move along in an unstable fashion as late as 2017.
Things are about to get more interesting.