Any small business member of a Chamber of Commerce in Maine is eligible to sign up for a new Anthem Insurance program that gives businesses with 50 employees or less a choice of five different coverage plans – offering price options once only available to larger companies.
Dubbed Chamber Blue Options, the plans don’t do anything yet to lower the cost of health insurance. They do make it more available to some employees, who previously couldn’t afford or didn’t want to take the one or maybe two policies offered by a small business.
The five plans all come with different price tags and deductibles, including one plan connected to a health savings account.
A company with five employees, for example, could conceivably take advantage of five different plans, said Dana Connors, president of the Maine State Chamber, which worked with Anthem to get the plan started in Maine.
“It’s best described in two words – choice and flexibility,” Connors said.
Chamber Blue Options, which was approved by the state’s Bureau of Insurance, also does something existing plans can’t. It allows businesses to sign up with just 60 percent employee participation, while other plans in Maine require 75 percent.
Mark Ishkanian, an Anthem spokesman, said the plan, over time, could lead to lower costs.
It will give up to 2 percent cuts on premium prices for employees who work to stay healthy by doing an on-line health assessment and signing up for Anthem Rewards, where participants log in their exercise regimen and get points toward Anthem products like gym bags. The wellness program is available only to companies with 25 to 50 employee,s and 75 percent of them have to be involved. The premium price reduction won’t be go into effect until after the first year.
Chamber Blue Options also creates a new group of insured, whose claims experience the first year could lead to reduced rates in the second year. The plan is being sold through Anthem and its agents and prices lists are expected to be out this week. The insurance will be available starting Jan. 1.
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