Durham, N.C., Winston-Salem, N.C. – Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina (Blue Cross NC) and Wake Forest Baptist Health announced an agreement that could reduce Affordable Care Act (ACA) rates for small business customers with one to 50 eligible employees by up to 15 percent. The agreement means $2 million in reduction in health care costs for 2020 in the region.
“Small business owners are struggling to offer employees health insurance at an affordable price,” said John Roos, Blue Cross NC’s Chief Growth Officer. “Our new product with Wake Forest Baptist will address this challenge head on by delivering a 15 percent lower rate on average, and access to an excellent network of doctors and hospitals.”
“We are glad to partner with Blue Cross and Blue Shield to offer affordable healthcare options to local small businesses,” said Terry Williams, Chief Strategy Officer at Wake Forest Baptist. “We look forward to serving those who choose Wake Forest Baptist for their healthcare needs.”
The decreases will be available through a new product called Blue LocalSM with Wake Forest Baptist Health.
This new offering takes advantage of Wake Forest Baptist’s expertise and progress in providing value-based care to patients for the past five years. ACA patients in our existing service area already trust us with their health care.
Businesses wanting to take advantage of the reduced rates must switch to Blue Local with Wake Forest Baptist Health.
Blue Cross NC has more than 925 small business ACA customers representing more than 8,000 members in the counties where Blue Local with Wake Forest Baptist Health will be offered. The product will be sold in Stokes, Yadkin, Forsyth, Davie, Davidson, Guilford, Randolph, and Wilkes Counties.
The savings are in comparison to PPO plans with same in-network and standard out-of-network benefits for members living within the service area. Blue Cross NC will continue selling Blue Options and Blue Value products in the region.
A High-Quality Network
Blue Local members will have access to a high-quality, coordinated network.
The Blue Local network consists of:
- Wake Forest Baptist Health, an academic medical center which includes
- Five community hospitals
- Brenner Children’s Hospital
- New leading-edge labor and delivery and high-risk infant care at The Birth Center and Dale & Karen Sisel NICU
- One of only 51 National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers in the country
- More than 300 primary care and specialty clinics
Small businesses interested in buying the product can request a quote via their Blue Cross NC authorized agent or Blue Cross NC sales representative.
In August, Blue Cross NC and Wake Forest Baptist Health announced a new Blue Local product that could reduce ACA rates for individual customers by up to 40 percent.
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About Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina:
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina (Blue Cross NC) improves the health and well-being of our customers and communities by providing innovative health care products, services and information to more than 3.9 million members, including approximately 1.1 million served on behalf of other Blue Plans. Since 1933, we have worked to make North Carolina a better place to live through our support of community organizations, programs and events that promote good health. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. Visit Blue Cross NC online at bluecrossnc.com. All other marks are the property of their respective owners.
Wake Forest Baptist Health (www.wakehealth.edu) is a pre-eminent academic health system based in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Wake Forest Baptist Health’s two main components are an integrated clinical system – anchored by Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, an 885-bed tertiary-care hospital in Winston-Salem – that includes Brenner Children’s Hospital, five community hospitals, more than 300 primary and specialty care locations and more than 2,000 physicians; and Wake Forest School of Medicine, a recognized leader in experiential medical education and groundbreaking research that includes Wake Forest Innovations, a commercialization enterprise focused on advancing health care.