
Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield is the largest health insurer in Virginia
Because of the new health care law, Virginia health insurers were required to release detailed information to the Virginia Bureau of Insurance and the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. The companies owned by Wellpoint (Anthem) brought in $4.1 billion in monthly premiums and had insured more than 1 million people on December 31.
Three of WellPoint’s Virginia health insurance companies, Anthem Health Plans of Virginia Inc., Healthkeepers Inc., and UniCare Life and Health Insurance Co, held 50 percent of Virginia’s market share in premiums collected and people covered. From these figures, WellPoint clearly dominated the Virginia health insurance market last year.
Sentara (OptimaHealth) Ranked Third
Sentara Health Management Group, part of Norfolk’s Sentara Healthcare company, ranked third behind CareFirst Inc., the parent provider of CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield, another insurer in the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. Sentara received about $685 million in insurance premiums and insured over 170,000 people. Sentara’s two child companies, Optima Health Plan and Optima Health Insurance Co., held 8 percent of the market share in each category.
These figures include plans underwritten by insurers, and those in the Federal Employees Health Benefits program. Plans covering dental or vision only, Medicare, Medicaid and “self-insured” contracts are not included.
Is Bigger Better?
The takeaway from these statistics is that Anthem is the biggest insurer in the state, and collects the largest amount of insurance premiums. Because Anthem is the largest, it can afford to offer lower-cost plans than other providers. Anthem is not only Virginia’s largest insurer, it is also the state’s lowest-cost insurer, and one of only two offering Maternity coverage options (OptimaHealth being the other).
Anthem also keeps prescription drugs affordable by not requiring a separate deductible on your prescription card. All things considered, Anthem offers the lowest out of pocket cost of all Virginia carriers, with the exception of United Health Care (if you can afford United’s monthly premium).
In addition, Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield of Virginia is the insurer of last resort. If you can’t get insured with other providers, chances are that you will be accepted with Anthem. If you think you’ll have a hard time getting health coverage, Anthem Lumenos HSA Standard & Virginia Standard can give you the coverage that you need.
Anthem offers Virginia’s Lowest Costs
How is Anthem able to offer the best plans? How can Anthem offer the lowest costs and the greatest benefits? It may be due to their size. Because Anthem is Virginia’s largest insurer, it can use its resources to offer unmatched deals and low-cost coverage. The large amount of premiums that Anthem receives enables it to offer coverage options that others can’t.
MyLocalBroker.net – Your Anthem Virginia Guide
Now that it’s clear that Anthem is the best choice for most Virginians, how do you get the best coverage? How do you know which plan is the best for your needs? That is where we come in. MyLocalBroker.net is an Anthem Premier Partner with over 20 years of experience in health insurance. If you need health insurance advice, we can help. As health insurance brokers, our consultations and health plan advice are completely free to you.
If you are an individual in Virginia looking for affordable family health insurance coverage, a self-employed worker looking for the right health plan, or even a Medicare recipient or small business group, we can help. Our services are always free, and you have nothing to lose but higher premiums!
As brokers, MyLocalBroker.net will analyze your particular needs and tailor a plan specifically for you. Perhaps you are interested in low-cost individual Anthem plans. In that case we may offer Anthem Core Share or Anthem SmartSense. Perhaps you want the benefits of a health savings account, where you can save unused funds to a tax-free account that you can use later. In that case, we may offer Anthem Lumenos HSA. Or, if you are looking for the best coverage at a good price, we may offer Anthem Premier. Every case is different, but you can be sure that you are getting the best coverage in Virginia when you contact MyLocalBroker.net.
Jeter, Amy. The Virginian-Pilot. WellPoint state’s top insurer; Sentara third-largest
June 2, 2011
http://hamptonroads.com/2011/05/wellpoint-states-top-insurer-sentara-thirdlargest