TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas' largest health insurer said Tuesday that it will offer another year of coverage under plans that it had expected to cancel in 2014 because the plans fail to meet Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) coverage standards.
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas said it hopes to notify about 10,000 policyholders within the next week that they can continue with their existing, individual coverage. The company had sent them notices canceling their policies as of Jan. 1. The policyholders would have to find new coverage for 2014.
The company's decision came less than a week after President Barack Obama announced that his administration would give state regulators the option of working with insurers to keep pre-PPACA plans in force for at least another year, even if those plans don't comply with PPACA coverage mandates.
At least 4 million Americans received cancellation notices because their plans fail to meet PPACA coverage standards.
Kansas Blue spokeswoman Mary Beth Chambers said continuing such plans represents "what we think our members would want." She said the company waited for additional guidance from federal officials, consulted with the state Insurance Department and reviewed technical issues before coming to its decision.
"We had to make sure that we could make the changes on our end to make these plans available," Chambers said.
Kansas Insurance Commissioner Sandy Praeger praised Kansas Blue's decision as "the right thing to do" given problems with the federally run online health insurance exchange program for Kansas and most other states. Last week, the federal government reported that only 371 Kansans had selected a health plan through the HealthCare.gov exchange enrollment system from Oct. 1 to Nov. 2.
