Kansas Blue Cross Executive Pitches One Of His Plans To Define ‘Essential Benefits’ Benchmark
An executive with Blue Cross Blue Shield in Kansas is stumping for one of his company's plans to become the measure by which other plans' "essential benefits" are judged.
Kansas Health Institute News: Blue Cross Kansas Exec Urges Selection Of Blue Plan For ACA Benchmark
An executive with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas today urged state insurance regulators to consider recommending one of his company's plans as the benchmark for basic benefits to be offered through a new, digital health insurance marketplace. ... Federal officials have left it to governors to choose which plan will be the benchmark in each state and have said they want those choices made by the end of the month. In the event a governor does not make a selection, the benefits will be decided by federal health officials. Insurance department officials are preparing a recommendation for consideration by Gov. Sam Brownback and are expected to submit to him in about a week their report with at least a couple of options outlined in it (Shields, 9/5).
And a symposium in California looks at the next steps for health reform there --
California Healthline: Taking Next Steps Of Reform
To get an idea of why health care reform is so important, said Pam Kehaly, president of Anthem Blue Cross, you have to understand how much it costs. … Or put another way, Kehaly said, the cost of health care is about $8,400 for every American every year. "That means, for a family of four, it's pretty much like buying a new car every year," Kehaly said. ... Kehaly spoke at "Striving for High Value Health Care: Lessons Learned in California," a symposium sponsored by the New England Health Institute and Anthem Blue Cross, part of NEHI's "Bend the Curve" initiative, which aims to spread the word to states across the country about how to increase quality and lower costs. NEHI identified seven particular areas where that nexus could be achieved most easily (Gorn, 9/6).