Liz Gallops: BCBS plan a plus for N.C.

Hundreds of thousands of North Carolinians just dodged a bullet and don’t even know it. The Sept. 23 news article “Blue Cross plans to continue offering ACA coverage in all 100 N.C. counties” passed largely unnoticed. Had the decision been different, North Carolina would have yet again been the lead story on the national nightly news.

For those of us who work in the health insurance industry, we understand just how huge this decision was. Had the decision been different, 95 percent of North Carolina would have had no option for subsidized coverage through healthcare.gov.

If BCBSNC had followed suit with other insurers and terminated all of its ACA plans both off and on marketplace, then hundreds of thousands more would have had no option whatsoever for individual insurance. None! The fact that this announcement has gone largely unnoticed speaks volumes.

Today, North Carolinians in all 100 counties should be breathing a huge sigh of relief that they will have at least one option for coverage in 2017, and that those receiving tax credits through healthcare.gov will have at least one carrier offering plans to allow them to keep those credits.

This story was originally published September 26, 2016 at 5:13 PM with the headline "Liz Gallops: BCBS plan a plus for N.C.."