Health Insurance Blog

In Southeastern Pennsylvania, Independence Blue Cross (IBC) in conjunction with Highmark Blue Shield has formed the Caring Foundation which helps to provide free or low-cost health insurance plans to uninsured children and adults in the 5 counties including and surrounding Philadelphia.

Plans that are administered through the Caring Program include Pennsylvania CHIP, Adultbasic, and Special Care.

Special Care in particular is a limited benefit plan providing traditional fee for service coverage to uninsured adults and children in Southeastern PA.

More information about Pennsylvania health insurance and Philadelphia health insurance.

When JD Power & Associates rated the top health plans in Pennsylvania, they also included Delaware in a region which included both Pennsylvania & Delaware.  However, of the eleven private health insurance companies that were included in the study and part of this region, eight of them where Pennsylvania health plans, and the three that weren’t exclusively Pennsylvania plans (Aetna, CIGNA, and UnitedHealthCare) did not factor into consideration among the top plans and were all rated as being below average in overall experience.

According to the study, the top health insurance plan in Pennsylvania was Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield, which was also judged to be one of the best the nation has to offer.  Finishing a close second to Highmark BCBS, was another Highmark inc. company and Blue Cross Blue Shield Licensee Highmark Blue Shield.

Highmark BCBS serves health insurance customers in Western Pennsylvania, while Highmark Blue Shield serves Central PA.

Other Pennsylvania health plans that fared particularly well in the study include Capital BlueCross and Geisinger Health Plan, both were rated above average.

Senate Bill 189 recently passed the Pennsylvania House of Representatives which will allow children of parents covered on their group health insurance plan to remain on the health plan until age 30.  Seventeen other states have already extended the age limit for dependent health insurance coverage.

To be eligible for the Pennsylvania health insurance extention, the child must be unmarried, have no dependents themselves, be a Pennsylvania resident or be enrolled as a full-time college student and have no other health insurance coverage.

Some of the top individual health insurance plans available to PA residents include:  Aetna, Highmark BCBS, Health, HealthAmerica, and Capital Blue Cross , Independence Blue Cross Blue Shield

Following up on a post from Wednesday, Highmark and Independence Blue Cross have decided to abandon their plans for a merger, says Martha Raffaele of the Associated Press. The Pennsylvania health insurance companies did not want to agree to give up either the Blue Cross or Blue Shield trademark, which the Insurance Department was requiring.

Highmark is dominant in western Pennsylvania, while Independence Blue Cross is mainly in Philadelphia. A merger would have made the combined insurer the largest health insurance provider in the state. Insurance commissioner Joel Ario believes that a merger would have a negative impact on consumers’ health care access and choice unless another competitor was allowed to enter the market with a Blue name.

In an interesting move, Highmark Blue Shield, has announced their plans to open two retail health insurance stores in Pennsylvania offering individual health insurance, as well as small business health plans, and senior health plans.

The stores called Highmark Direct will open in Pittsburgh and Mechanicsburg in March of 2009.

More information about Pennsylvania health insurance, and health insurance companies serving PA residents.