Highlights
| |
Life
insurance coverage will be available in the new amounts
of $75,000 and $100,000 |
| |
New 1 + 20
rating tier for PPO plans will be used for smokers (new
business only) |
| |
Blue View
Vision benefits will be added for new and existing Tonik
members; this will result in new Tonik contract codes
(to reflect combined Medical, Dental and now Vision
benefits) |
| |
Tonik health
members who want to upgrade to another Tonik plan will
need to complete the
Tonik application; Tonik downgrades
will still be possible with a written request |
| |
"Important
Things to Think About/What Do You Need Most" is being
included with the member notifications to remind them of
the value of staying covered and how to assess their
needs if they want to change plans |
| |
A Tonik
Rate Sheet is being printed separately from the Rate
Guide |
| |
In March
2007, the Tonik rates will be incorporated in an updated
version of the Rate Guide |
|
|
Our take:
We have received preliminary
rates for our
Blue Cross of California
individual health pre-65 clients and the
increase looks to be one of the lowest in over 10 years. This is in
contradiction to Blue Shield's recent February 1st rate change where increases
appear to average between 15-30%. In prior newsletters to our clients, we
have forecasted milder increases going forward and it is nice to finally have
validation of this prediction...not to mentioned welcomed relief to Blue Cross
members. We feel that a company's rate increase in the next 12-18 months
will be a good indication of their financial strength going forward. The
trend should be toward single digit increases and a carrier which is unable to
maintain this trend might be suspect.
The new rates should be
available for your
California instant health quote through our engines during January.
Typically, when there is a rate change, new enrollees with an effective date
before the rate change can lock in the old rates for up to 6 months. As we
have more information on this option and the increase itself, we will update
this bulleting. |
