BLUE CROSS TO LOWER COSTS.Byline: Chris Sieroty Staff Writer THOUSAND OAKS Thousand Oaks, residential city (1990 pop. 104,352), Ventura co., S Calif., in a farm area; inc. 1964. Avocados, citrus, vegetables, strawberries, and nursery products are grown. - In an effort to provide affordable insurance to the thousands of Californians dropping or losing their coverage, Blue Cross of California California (kăl'ĭfôr`nyə), most populous state in the United States, located in the Far West; bordered by Oregon (N), Nevada and, across the Colorado River, Arizona (E), Mexico (S), and the Pacific Ocean (W). is set to begin offering low-priced health insurance, a company spokesman said Wednesday. The Blue Cross PlanScope program will offer California residents a choice of seven different options beginning Jan. 1, for an average monthly price of $105 per member. ``By offering these new options, we are definitely responding to consumer demand for choice and flexibility,'' said Michael Chee, a spokesman with Blue Cross of California, a Thousand Oaks-based subsidiary of WellPoint Health Networks Inc. By consolidating their business, Chee said the company was looking to keep their members insured during a time of rising costs, while being able to offer an affordable product to the uninsured. ``Consumers want choice and WellPoint is responding to that demand,'' said William McKeever, an analyst with Paine Webber Paine Webber and Company was an American stock brokerage firm that was acquired by the Swiss bank UBS AG in 2000. The company was founded in 1880 in Boston, Massachusetts, by William Alfred Paine and Wallace G. Webber. in New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of . ``It's going to help WellPoint achieve a larger client base in California. I expect them to try this in other markets.'' Under the new plan, Blue Cross expects 477,000 members to experience an average price reduction of $19 a month. The remaining individual PPO PPO abbr. preferred provider organization PPO Managed care Preferred provider organization, see there Infectious disease Pleuropneumonia-like organism, see there members, some 243,000 are expected to see an increase of $9 a month. Jamie Court, director of the Santa Monica-based Consumers for Quality Care, was skeptical that the new health plans would actually offer coverage to those who can't afford health insurance. ``Blue Cross is trying to create a policy that helps no one but Blue Cross, because most people will never be able to use it,'' Court said. ``This is a major medical policy that requires a 25 percent co-pay, which doesn't help the uninsured get preventative care.'' ``That's not true,'' argued Chee. ``What he misses is the fact that there are preventative care options offered. We are offering first-dollar coverage for office visits and generic prescription drugs prescription drug Prescription medication Pharmacology An FDA-approved drug which must, by federal law or regulation, be dispensed only pursuant to a prescription–eg, finished dose form and active ingredients subject to the provisos of the Federal Food, Drug, . ``Historically, those options have been subject to out-of-pocket expenses out-of-pocket expenses n. moneys paid directly for necessary items by a contractor, trustee, executor, administrator or any person responsible to cover expenses not detailed by agreement. ,'' he said. |
|
||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion