Beginning in January 2014, Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield will shift its individual insurance customers to a new, narrower network that will exclude 12
The new network restrictions will apply to people with individual coverage from Anthem whether they purchased their coverage inside or outside of the new health insurance exchange established under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, according to the report. The insurer decided to shrink its network after determining it didn't need the state's 26 hospitals to serve and provide quality care to its enrollees. Anthem's goal is to reduce what preferred providers charge for care services, according to the report.
Providers and policymakers have criticized the new network. New Hampshire Senate Majority Leader Jeb Bradley told The Telegraph Anthem's plan will ration healthcare and will disrupt state residents' ability to get treated at the hospital or hospital-owned physician practice of their choice. New Hampshire Hospital Association President Steve Ahnen also expressed concerns, telling The Telegraph his group questions whether the development will hinder patients' ability to get the right care at the right place and the right time.
Nashua-based Southern New Hampshire Medical Center — which won't be part of the new network — wasn't consulted by Anthem concerning the marketplace change, Scott Westover, vice president for strategic management at SNHMC, told The Telegraph.
People who bought individual coverage through Anthem since Congress approved the PPACA in 2010 — about one-third of the current 40,000 people covered through individual plans — are exempt from the new policy, according to the report.
More Articles on Health Insurance Coverage:
Anthem Blue Cross, MaineHealth Partnership Draws Criticism
Blue Shield of California Scales Back Coverage for Proton Beam Therapy
Mutual Life, Aon Hewitt Partner to Offer Medicare Coverage