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Blue Cross NC Plans To Lower Rates For Affordable Care Act Plans

Associated Press Photo/Gerry Broome, File

Thousands of customers that receive Affordable Care Act plans with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina could soon see cheaper insurance premiums.

The company plans to lower rates for ACA plans in 2019.

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina wants to decrease the rates for ACA premiums by 4.1 percent.

The Durham insurer says several factors played a role in its decision. Those include having more knowledge of the customer pool to help manage costs, the suspension of the ACA health insurance tax for 2019, and entering into new arrangements with health systems.

The company currently serves more than 475,000 customers under the plans. It expects to be the only insurer to offer Obamacare plans in all 100 counties.

The open enrollment period for 2019 coverage runs from Nov. 1 to Dec. 15.

The state Department of Insurance will have to approve the proposal, which would go into effect January 1.

Blue Cross says this would be its first individual market rate decrease in company history.

*Follow WFDD's Keri Brown on Twitter @kerib_news

 

Keri Brown is a multi-award winning reporter and host at 88.5 WFDD. She has been honored with two regional Edward R. Murrow awards for her stories about coal ash, and was named the 2015 radio reporter of the year by the Radio Television Digital News Association of the Carolinas (RTDNAC).Although she covers a variety of topics, her beats are environmental and education reporting.Keri comes to the Triad from West Virginia Public Broadcasting, where she served as the Chief Bureau Reporter for the Northern Panhandle. She produced stories for the state's Public Television and Radio programs and was honored by the West Virginia Associated Press Broadcasters Association for her feature and enterprise reporting.She also served as an adjunct instructor at Wheeling Jesuit University and Bethany College in West Virginia. She worked with the Center for Educational Technologies in Wheeling, WV, and other NASA centers across the country to develop several stories about the use of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) concepts in the classroom.Keri's journalism career began at WTRF-TV 7 in Wheeling. She worked in several roles at the station, including the head assignment editor. She also was a field producer and assignment manager at WPGH-TV Fox 53 in Pittsburgh.Keri is a graduate of Ohio University. When she's not in the studio or working on a story, she enjoys watching college football with her family, cooking, and traveling.Keri is always looking for another great story idea, so please share them with her. You can follow her on Twitter @kerib_news.

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