Dive Brief:
- Blue Cross Blue Shield will no longer sell traditional health policies for individuals in Minnesota, affecting about 103,000 people who purchased coverage either independently or through the state marketplace MNsure, MPR News reported.
- The insurer will maintain a presence for individuals in the state through its subsidiary Blue Plus, which currently has 13,000 members and will continue to offer its more limited narrow-network individual plans.
- The move reflects the insurer's losses in the individual market of about $500 million over the past three years.
Dive Insight:
Michael Guyette, CEO of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota, called the change in a statement a "refocusing of their individual plan offerings," versus an exit from the state's individual market.
“The way that we were in the market was just not sustainable right now given all the instability, the volatility and all the change that continues to happen in the individual marketplace both on and off the exchange,” Guyette told the Star Tribune.
Experts noted Blue Cross had been one of few insurers with a statewide provider network, and suggested some consumers may forgo insurance as a result of the policy cuts.
The insurer had been the top player on MNsure in 2015 with 43% of the individual plans sold, but dropped to 21% this year after raising premiums 49% in an attempt to stem its losses.