BlueChoice Health Plan in South Carolina is rolling out some significant improvements to their individual health insurance plans, called MyChoice. The primary drawback to the MyChoice plans since their inception last year, at least in my mind, has been that there was no out-of-network coverage available (that is to say, it was an HMO). While their network is very large in South Carolina, the plans offered no coverage out of state. That will change for new plans with effective dates of April 1 and later, as BlueChoice has shifted to “Open Access” plans that provide coverage out of network and include the “Blue Card” access to the Blue Cross Blue Shield network nationwide. That’s a significant improvement.
A second improvement, beginning May 1, is that the plans will allow for family coverage. Previously they were literally individual plans, and did not offer coverage to dependents. This has been a significant problem due to the fact that there are no child-only plans on the market. So if you have kids, BlueChoice has never really been a viable option. Again — this is a welcome change.
These plans are unique in the individual health insurance marketplace in that they include a yearly vision checkup and some basic dental coverage as standard, built-in features of the plan. With these changes, they will bear strong consideration for our clients in South Carolina.
If you live in South Carolina and you’d like to compare your current individual health insurance coverage with that offered by BlueChoice (or any other carriers — we work with several others!) – please contact us today.
(By the way — do not make the common and super-easy mistake of confusing Blue Choice with their older cousin, Blue Cross Blue Shield of South Carolina. Though a subsidiary company, Blue Choice is functionally independent.)
