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DURHAM, N.C. (AP) — The Latest on Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina announcing it's seeking to lower rates for next year's Affordable Care Act policies by 4.1 percent on average. (all times local):
5:30 p.m.
The top executive at North Carolina's largest health insurer is crediting newly negotiated deals with doctors and hospitals for helping drive down the cost of the subsidized "Obamacare" policies it sells.
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina said Tuesday it proposed prices to state insurance regulators that could lower rates for next year's Affordable Care Act policies by 4.1 percent on average.
Chief Executive Officer Patrick Conway credits a $120 million reduction in health care costs that comes from agreements that include Blue Cross and medical providers sharing risks.
Blue Cross says it could have lowered average rates by another 18 percent if Congress and the Trump Administration hadn't eliminated the penalty for people who don't buy health coverage and a subsidy to insurers.
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11:55 a.m.
North Carolina's largest health insurer says it's cutting some individual premiums for the first time in over a quarter century, but the savings on subsidized "Obamacare" coverage would have been much larger if Washington had left the law alone.
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina said Tuesday it proposed prices to state insurance regulators that could lower rates for next year's Affordable Care Act policies by 4.1 percent on average. About 85 percent of the savings comes from last year's federal income tax cut and Congress suspending a tax on insurers for 2019.
Blue Cross says it could have lowered average rates by another 18 percent if Congress and the Trump Administration hadn't eliminated the penalty for people who don't buy health coverage and a subsidy to insurers.
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