North Carolina Blue Cross Opens Stores to Enroll Consumers

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina is opening retail stores in strip malls to educate consumers about the new health insurance exchanges and help them enroll, according to a News & Observer report.

An estimated 600,000 people in North Carolina will shop for coverage through the new exchanges under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, according to the report. Because the state has opted not to run its own exchange, the federal government will facilitate the new marketplace, which opens for enrollment Oct. 1.

BCBSNC aims to provide help to the currently uninsured who need a face-to-face, step-by-step walk through the process of buying coverage through the exchange, according to the report. The company has also reached out by traveling to fairs and farmers markets with a showroom trailer.

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