DES MOINES, IA (Feb. 8, 2018) – Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Iowa has an 80-year history of providing individual and family health insurance plans for Iowans. Last year, we worked closely with the State of Iowa to pursue an innovative attempt to address the challenges of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) segment of the individual market through the Iowa Stopgap Measure. Although federal law was not flexible enough to provide the relief needed to implement the Measure, we remain committed to finding a solution.
Therefore, today we are announcing several options to provide individual and family coverage in Iowa. Our members, our agents, and most recently Governor Kim Reynolds and Iowa Insurance Commissioner Doug Ommen, have asked Wellmark to offer individual and family coverage in this market.
To that end, we will offer fully ACA-compliant products on the public exchange for 2019, assuming there aren’t any significant changes to the Affordable Care Act. We will also explore offering additional options outside of the ACA for Iowans, if state and federal rules allow us to do so.
While there is no singular solution to stabilize the entire individual market in 2019, Wellmark will seek to offer options that provide more choice and affordability to Iowans than they have today. Wellmark believes the individual market can be functional once again. We pledge to continue working with state and federal officials, business partners, and other stakeholders to find a solution for all Iowans in the individual and family insurance market.
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