With health care costs hitting small employers particularly hard, many Kentucky organizations have found themselves struggling to offer health benefits to their employees.
The latest health plan offered through the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce aims to solve that problem through a new type of health plan that allows multiple smaller employers to join together to achieve savings.
The health plan, called ChamberAdvantage, now offered through the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce in collaboration with Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield, is known as a MEWA model.
Under a MEWA, small employers may join their workforces in a collective ‘risk pool’ – a population of people insured under a health plan.
By utilizing a larger risk pool of many employers rather than a small risk pool for an individual employer, small employers can achieve more predictable pricing, greater flexibility in benefit design, and potential savings of as much as 25 percent compared to plans available through the Affordable Care Act marketplace.
Adkisson
“The Kentucky Chamber has partnered with Anthem for many years with the goal of serving our small employers,” said Dave Adkisson, president and CEO of the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce. “We’re particularly excited about this latest collaboration because if we can help Kentucky’s smaller employers better manage their health care costs it creates more opportunity for business investment and innovation. That’s good for our economy, our workers and our commonwealth.”
ChamberAdvantage launches statewide October 1, 2019 and is available to employers with 2-50 employees. The plan offers a premium lock of up to 20 months, giving employers cost predictability over a longer period, as well as a national health care provider network featuring Anthem’s Blue Cross and Blue Shield Blue Card network.
“ChamberAdvantage is what’s known as a self-funded health plan design, meaning that while Anthem administers the plan, the actual claims are paid through a trust managed by the Kentucky Chamber,” said Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Kentucky President Kennan Wethington. “Self-funded plans offer many advantages not normally available to small employers and the trust allows us to return dollars to the plan to reduce future premium if the plan’s expenditures for health care in any given year are lower than expected.”
Employers may learn more about ChamberAdvantage by contacting their health insurance agent or Anthem representative at kychamber.com/anthem.
Kentucky Chamber of Commerce
