Oklahoma marketplace plans and rates for 2015 released
Posted on: 11/26/14
CMS released new data Nov. 14 on the 2015 Health Insurance Marketplace, just in time for the open enrollment period that began Nov. 15 and runs through Feb. 15, 2015.
Most marketplace health plans in Oklahoma will cost more in 2015 than in 2014, but the expansion of the Blue Advantage network will make lower-cost options available in more counties.
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Oklahoma’s Blue Advantage Silver plan with a $6,000 deductible will be the lowest cost 2015 plan in all counties where it is offered. (Silver plan enrollees with incomes between 100 percent and 250 percent of the federal poverty level qualify for reduced deductibles and other out-of-pocket savings.) Introduced in 2014 in eight Oklahoma City area counties, Blue Advantage Silver expands to 45 of Oklahoma’s 77 counties for 2015. This expansion reduced the price of the lowest cost silver plan for the Tulsa area and for rural Oklahoma.
The lowest 2015 Silver plan monthly premiums (without low income subsidy) for a 40-year old individual are:
| Rating Area |
Lowest cost Silver plan |
Monthly premium, 40 year old* |
Change from 2014 lowest Silver plan |
| Rural Oklahoma |
Blue Advantage |
$197.47 |
-7.4% |
| Tulsa MSA |
Blue Advantage |
$204.44 |
-4.4% |
| OKC MSA |
Blue Advantage |
$200.84 |
3.9% |
| Lawton MSA |
Blue Advantage |
$193.66 |
5.3% |
| Ft. Smith, AR MSA |
Blue Preferred |
$237.65 |
10.6% |
(MSA = Metropolitan Statistical Area)
* NOTE: The prices here do not reflect the lower costs an applicant may qualify for based on household size and income. Many people who apply will qualify for reduced costs through tax credits that are automatically applied to monthly premiums. These credits will significantly lower the prices shown for a majority of those applying.
A plan’s premiums are required to be constant across a rating area, but plans are not required to offer coverage in all counties in the rating area. See below for maps showing the counties in which some of the plans are offered.
Assurant Health is the new entry in the Oklahoma exchange for 2015. Available only in the Oklahoma City and Tulsa areas, Assurant uses the Aetna Signature Administrators PPO Network. In each area, Assurant’s marketplace premiums were the highest of all silver plans in the area. Assurant is the only issuer to offer a platinum level plan on the exchange in Oklahoma.
Aetna and Coventry offered plans for the Oklahoma marketplace in 2014, but did not offer any here for 2015.
Blue Cross and Blue Shield’s Blue Choice PPO is offered in all 77 counties. The Blue Preferred Silver PPO is available in 68 counties; this option is not available in the northwest part of the state. Blue Cross is also making some multi-state plans available throughout Oklahoma.
Coverage maps and an Excel file with the details of each plan available in each Oklahoma county, including sample premiums and links to benefit and provider network pages, is available on OHA’s
website.
(Rick Snyder)