In recent times, health plans in California have started to warn their
brokers that it wasn’t kosher to sell high-deductible plans with other
forms of insurance or funding to cover the deductible. Now, Blue Shield
of California has terminated a broker for taking just such an action, a
move that is now being scrutinized by the state’s Department of
Insurance. Southern California broker Bill Goldstein was terminated by
Blue Shield last month for selling a small employer a $3,000-deductible
Blue Shield plan, presumably along with some other form of financing
designed to help employees meet their obligations.

Several
plans, including Blue Shield of California, Health Net, Kaiser
Permanente and Anthem Blue Cross, have sent letters to insurance
brokers threatening to terminate the broker’s contract and withhold
commissions if brokers sell so-called “wrap-around” packages to
employers. Brokers, some of whom have been protesting such policies,
say that all they’re doing is helping their clients provide a policy
that both employers and employees can afford. The health plans,
meanwhile, say that the high-deductible plans don’t make money unless
consumers are forced to bear the initial cost of care and make careful
decisions. None of the plans, however, have released figures indicating
how high-deductible plans perform when consumers don’t bear all of the
first-dollar coverage, according to the Sacramento Business Journal.

To learn more about the dispute:
- read this Sacramento Business Journal article

Topics: Consumer Directed Health Care |

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