Blue Cross considers it an important part of our mission to improve the health and lives and Louisianians. We want to give our family, friends and neighbors financial security in their day-to-day lives against terrible illnesses, give them a clear path to improving their health and help them put off chronic disease for as long as possible. A better quality of life for everyone is our goal, and we’re currently doing that as a participant in healthcare.gov.
Health insurance companies like Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana have a long history of trying to slow down the rapidly rising cost of healthcare. Over the years, a variety of strategies have emerged. Frankly, we’ve tried lots of stuff. When a company comes to us because their employee healthcare costs are going up too quickly, we try things like cutting out high-cost medical providers, steering people to less-expensive (but equally effective) drugs, raising out-of-pocket costs to discourage non-essential healthcare, and changing the mix between the employer contribution and the employee contribution.
Jan. 15, 2016, is an important date if you are buying health insurance coverage on healthcare.gov. It means, as of this posting (Monday, Jan. 11, 2016), you have four days to make a decision to get a plan for February 1, 2016. If you don’t hit buy and select a plan by Jan. 15, the EARLIEST you can have health insurance coverage is March 1, 2016.
The Open Enrollment Period for 2016 health insurance plans on healthcare.gov started Nov. 1 and runs through Jan. 31, 2016. This is a good time to point out some of the changes and offer some advice as you shop for your 2016 health plans.
