Health insurer Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas announced yesterday it will give its members the option of extending health plans that were previously scheduled to be canceled next year for not meeting the reform law's requirements.
The insurer will soon send letters to approximately 10,000 individual policyholders affected by the change to explain their options, according to a news release. The insurer will also reach out to small business owners about extending small group benefit plans that were previously marked for cancelation.
Last week, President Barack Obama announced he would take executive action to make sure health insurers can continue offering individual market health plans for the next year.
Originally, non-grandfathered policies — plans that went into effect or underwent certain changes after the PPACA became law in March 2010 — had to meet new coverage requirements in 2014. Under the PPACA, individual health plans must cover "essential benefits" such as prescription drugs, mental health services and maternity care. Insurers must also cap consumers' annual expenses. Many insurers sent out cancellation notices to people enrolled in non-grandfathered individual plans that didn't meet these requirements. The development spurred Republicans to criticize President Obama, saying he had failed to keep his promise that Americans could keep their old health plans if they wanted under the PPACA.
Earlier this month, Anthem Blue Cross of California announced it would extend 104,000 canceled insurance policies. However, the insurer granted only a two-month extension because it didn't send out notification letters in time, and the extension came before the president's announcement.
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