Understanding Insurance
Expanded Customer Service Hours During 2015 Annual Enrollment Period
Update: As of 2/15/2015 we are no longer operated with extended hours. You can visit here for more details. As you might have heard, the Annual Enrollment Period for 2015 is here. To better serve our customers, we've expanded customer service hours. You can use the...
Wondering Why Your Premium Increased Even Though You Are Healthy?
It’s a question we hear a lot this time of year. A customer who is healthy and rarely if ever goes to the doctor is confused – and often upset – that their premium increased. Why does this happen? It has to do with the way insurance rates are determined. You might be...
Attention Health Plan Shoppers: ACA Annual Enrollment Begins Nov. 15
Signing up for a health plan on the federal exchange begins in less than two weeks. Are you ready? If you didn't get health coverage previously under the Affordable Care Act, you can enroll in a plan for next year starting Nov. 15. And if you're already covered, you...
Blue Map Guides the Way During AEP 2015
We’re quickly making our way toward the Annual Enrollment Period for 2015, which begins November 15, 2014. The Annual Enrollment Period (which you might hear referred to by its acronym: AEP) is the once-a-year window when you can renew, update, make changes to, or...
BCBSNC Rate Notice in the Mail This Week? It Might Show an Incorrect Rate
This week, many BCBSNC individual customers received letters telling them how much their health plans will cost in 2015. About 42,000 customers received notices that contained an incorrect premium amount. We’re very sorry about this mistake and we will be sending...
A Look Inside Our 2015 Rates: What They Mean for Our Individual Customers Under Age 65
Every year, we inform our individual customers about their premium rates for the coming year with a letter. As our company’s managing actuary, I want to take a moment to explain what went into determining 2015 premiums so you have a better understanding when you...
ACA 2015: What You Need to Enroll
The ACA 2015 Annual Enrollment Period doesn’t begin until November 15, 2014, but now is the perfect time to start gathering the information and documents you’ll need for 2015 coverage. Whether you’re enrolling for the first time, renewing a policy, recalculating your...
The Health Care Sweet Spot: Health Plans That Help You Find It
Consumer Reports' annual health plan rankings came out two weeks ago. While that certainly gets some attention each year, there's a new section that warrants a closer look if you're interested in the costly problem of unnecessary medical treatment. The consumer...
Open Enrollment 2015: Dates to Know
It’s hard to believe that almost a year has passed since the Affordable Care Act went live and Open Enrollment 2014 began. And now we’re headed into Open Enrollment 2015. What’s Open Enrollment? Good question. Basically, it’s when you’re able to choose a health...
Just What Are “Bundled Payments?”
Health care has more than its share of confusing terminology and jargon. One of our goals at BCBSNC is to break down the terms and concepts to give you the knowledge you need as a health care consumer. In that spirit, we give you the latest term that's catching on:...
Why Are Some Insurers Issuing Rebates?
It might seem like a nice surprise to get a check in the mail that you weren't expecting. But if that check comes from a health insurer, you might want to think about whether it really is a good deal. The Affordable Care Act requires individual and group health...
Meet Our New Customers: Who We Enrolled During the Affordable Care Act’s First Open Enrollment Period
by Barbara Morales Burke There’s no denying that the rollout of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and the launch of healthcare.gov were rocky. But North Carolinians did take advantage of their new ability to purchase health insurance. While we rank as the tenth largest...
Where does my health insurance premium really go?
Health insurance customers often ask a simple question about the premium they pay every month: Where does my premium dollar go? They’re usually not asking for a quick tutorial on how insurance works: Most people...
5 Emergency Rooms Myths Busted
The urgent care movement passed an important milestone in 2017 when the term was added to Merriam-Webster’s dictionary. It is official now: Urgent care centers are not just a fad. In fact, urgent care centers are filling an important role in meeting consumer needs in...
BCBSNC Billing Deadline Extended to April 4th for April 1st Coverage
We've seen a high volume of Individual Under 65 applications coming in for April coverage and decided to help our new customers by extending the first month’s initial payment due date to April 4. This is for both ON and OFF the Marketplace. Payment must be received by...