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Grandfathered Plans – individual plans written before 3/23/2010

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois filed a 14.8% rate increase for all plans written before 3/23/2010 (aka “Grandfathered” Plans) that will go into effect as each individual’s policy comes up for its annual renewal. The last rate increase on Grandfathered plans policies was just 4.1% on January 1st, 2014. BCBSIL has approximately 51,620 active Grandfathered policies that will be affected by this increase.

Grandfathered Plans – individual plans effective between 3/23/2010 and 12/31/2013

Grandmothered Plans – are transitional plans that are not grandfathered but were effective prior to 2014 between 3/23/2010 and 12/31/2013. Unlike Grandfathered plans that are allowed to remain in force indefinitely without having to become fully compliant with the Affordable Care Act, “Grandmothered” plans can be terminated by the insurance company as long as they give proper notice.

The state approved BCBSIL’s request to increase “Grandmothered” policy premiums by 26.8% effective January 1st, 2015 will affect approximately 114,000 policy holders. However, this is not necessarily bad news. There’s a very good chance that a BCBSIL policy holder will be able to obtain much lower coverage from the BCBSIL exchange plans than paying for the increase even for policyholders that do not qualify for a insurance premium subsidy

Illinois is one of 35 states that are allowing grandmothered plans to be renewed again this year. Click on the link to the Illinois Department of Insurance Press Release on Renewable Policies for additional information.