Regular reader, commenter and colleague Jeff M sent me this update on West Virginia's high-risk health insurance plan, ByrdCare.
I keed, I keed!
Actually, it's called AccessWV, and it currently provides state-subsidized health insurance for about 600 of that state's citizens. Unsurprisingly, the original plan was beginning to get expensive (d'unh!), and one way to address this was to offer a more stripped-down version, a quasi-HDHP (High Deductible Health Plan). Key features of this new option include a $4000 deductible for major med expenses, and an additional $2000 rx deductible.
The current plan costs its participants up to $1200 a month, which seems to me rather self-defeating (and helps explain the paltry participation numbers). Of course, with $10 office visit co-pays, "free" child wellcare, and deductibles as low as $400, it's not rocket surgery.
This new plan should cut that, but we don't yet know by how much.
One very neat feature of the AccessWV plan: agent referral fees. As of last spring, the state will pay agents $50 for every participant they sign up on the state health plan. On the one hand, I'm not crazy about encouraging folks to opt out of the commercial insurance pool and into the public trough, but at least they recognize that the agent provides more service than just quoting and proof-reading. And it's the first such program I've seen that seems to recognize the inherent value the agent brings to the table.
Hear that, Washington?
[Hat Tip: Jeff M]
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