TOTAL INSURANCE SAVINGS APPROVED BY ROSENDALE TOP $32 MILLION

HELENA, Mont. – Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Montana (Blue Cross) and the Mountain Health CO-OP (CO-OP) are providing a combined $3.8 million in temporary health insurance savings for specific consumer groups.

Under both federal law (Obamacare) and state law, insurance companies are not usually allowed to give any type of rebate, but, as in so many other ways, the COVID-19 pandemic has created an extenuating circumstance.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued guidance allowing insurers to temporarily reduce monthly premiums via a premium credit due to the public health emergency and urged states to follow suit. Montana Insurance Commissioner Matt Rosendale recently approved requests to issue premium credits from Blue Cross and the CO-OP.

The CO-OP will be providing about $2 million in premium credits to over 20,000 Montanans. The CO-OP is reducing the amount of premium owed by 10% for their members with individual coverage (18,000 Montanans) and for small employers (covering 2,300 Montanans) for November and December 2020.

Blue Cross will be providing about $1.8 million in total premium credit to small groups covering 25,000 Montanans. Blue Cross is reducing the amount of premium owed for November by 15% for their small groups. Blue Cross is communicating directly with the small groups and the brokers for the groups.

The $3.8 million in health insurance savings on policies covering 45,000 Montanans comes on top of the more than $28.6 million in other insurance savings Rosendale has expedited and approved throughout 2020.

“With so many Montanans struggling to make ends meet during the pandemic and recession, I’m glad that we’ve now rapidly approved more than $32 million of insurance savings for hundreds of thousands of our friends and neighbors,” Rosendale said.

Rosendale’s letters approving the premium credits can be found HERE and HERE.

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