Posted by: Diane Menio
in Opinion Blog on Oct 12, 2009
Independence Blue Cross announced this Fall that they are discontinuing their Special Needs Plans for persons who are dually eligible for Medicare and Medicaid and their low-fee plan for other low-income Medicare beneficiaries. Why? They say the reimbursement rates from Medicare are not sufficient to provide case management, managed care, prescription drugs and additional services. As many as 40,000 individuals in Southeastern Pennsylvania are affected by this and we just learned Aetna is also pulling out of the market. While Aetna currently only has about 1,000 beneficiaries in its plan, all low-income beneficiaries will have fewer options as they choose new plans or return to traditional Medicare. And, since IBC is by far the largest provider, the two remaining providers in the market will be taking on a particularly large burden.
