BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee on Thursday launched a website to educate Tennessee consumers and others on what a health insurance exchange may mean for them as part of health care reform.
The site has easy-to-understand information about exchanges, with pages geared toward individuals, employers, health care providers and insurance brokers. The address of the site is:
www.BCBSTexchange.com.
“Open enrollment for coverage on the exchange is October, 2013, so people are starting to ask, what is the exchange, how does it work and how does it affect me,” said Michael Eiselstein, BlueCross’ director of individual products. “In a nutshell, an exchange is an online marketplace for people to search, compare and apply for health coverage. This website has information about eligibility for coverage, premium subsidies, Medicaid expansion and much more.”
Health insurance exchanges are a key component of the federal health care reform law passed in 2010. Many operational details regarding exchanges have yet to be decided by federal and state officials. The BlueCross exchange website spells out in simple terms what is currently known and will be updated frequently as plans for a Tennessee exchange take shape.