North & South Carolina | Winter | 2008 | Health Plan Analysis
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina is upping the ante on transparency with its new Health Cost Estimator by offering contracted prices instead of provider charges, and by estimating the cost of the entire course of treatment for members. A subsidiary of BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina has expanded its international provider network in an effort to make medical tourism more attracted to self-insured clients. In another move toward value-based pharmacy benefit design, insurers are moving prescription drugs to lower copays to increase compliance. Meanwhile, HMO enrollment continued to decline in North and South Carolina while Aetna increased its PPO market share.
