NY State of Health, the state’s official health plan Marketplace has a variety of health insurance options available to New Yorkers in 2020.
Open Enrollment for coverage in a 2020 Qualified Health Plan started Nov. 1 and will continue through Jan. 31. New York’s enrollment window is twice as long as the federal marketplace, giving consumers more time to shop for the best coverage for themselves and their families.
“Marketplace enrollment is at its highest point ever with more than 4.8 million New Yorkers enrolled in comprehensive health insurance coverage, but there’s still more work to be done,” said NY State of Health Executive Director Donna Frescatore. “As we enter our seventh year, New Yorkers will once again have a broad choice of affordable and quality health plan options in every corner of the state, and our free in-person assistors are ready to help consumers shop for the most affordable plan option.”
New York was one of only three states nationwide to see a decrease in its uninsured population in 2018, according to recently released data from the U.S. Census Bureau. The state has reduced the number of uninsured people by 1.2 million since 2010, including one million since the Marketplace opened in 2013.
Officials said nearly all marketplace enrollees will see no increase in costs in 2020. This includes enrollees in Medicaid, Child Health Plus, Essential Plan and Qualified Health Plans (QHP) who receive tax credits. Consumers who receive premium tax credits, typically about 60 percent of QHP enrollees, will see no change, or in some cases a small decrease, in the cost of coverage compared to 2019.
NY State of Health expects to renew coverage for more than 500,000 households and enroll new consumers into coverage during the open enrollment period.
Current enrollees will begin to receive their 2020 renewal notices later this month and may begin renewing coverage on Nov. 16.
Notices will include information about premiums, tax credits, and how to select a plan, if applicable. Consumers who are renewing coverage are advised to update their account with any changes to income, address, or family size before enrollment begins. Most QHP and EP consumers have a choice of at least four plans in their county.
All of the insurers that offered Qualified Health Plans last year will offer them again in 2020. The 12 insurers offering Qualified Health Plans in 2020 are:
Capital District Physicians Health Plan, Empire Blue Cross HealthPlus and Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield HealthPlus, Excellus (Excellus Blue Cross Blue Shield in Central NY and Univera in Western NY), Fidelis Care, Health Insurance Plan of Greater New York (EmblemHealth), Healthfirst, HealthNow New York Inc. (BlueShield of Northeastern NY; BlueCross BlueShield of Western NY), Independent Health, MetroPlus Health Plan, Molina Health Care, MVP Health Care, Oscar Insurance Corp. and United Healthcare of New York Inc.
NY State of Health offers Qualified Health Plans in four metal tiers: platinum, gold, silver and bronze. All plans cover preventive care, prescription drugs, emergency care, hospital stays and more. In 2020, all standard bronze plans will include three free primary care visits.
Consumers will again have a broad choice of Essential Plan insurer options in 2020. The 15 insurers offering the Essential Plan in 2020 are: Affinity Health Plan, Capital District Physicians Health Plan, Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield HealthPlus, Excellus (Excellus Blue Cross Blue Shield in Central NY and Univera in Western NY), Fidelis Care, Health Insurance Plan of Greater New York (EmblemHealth), Healthfirst, HealthNow New York, Inc. (BlueCross BlueShield of Western NY), Independent Health, MetroPlus Health Plan, Molina Healthcare, MVP Health Care, United Healthcare of New York Inc., WellCare of New York and YourCare Health Plan
NY State of Health’s Small Business Marketplace (SBM) has significantly expanded its plan offerings compared to prior years. In 2020, 10 insurers including Empire, which is new to the SBM, will offer more than 2,500 products across the state.
Three insurers—EmblemHealth, Independent Health and MVP—will also offer SBM-certified Healthy NY products, for the first time allowing eligible small employers to benefit from both the Healthy NY program and Federal Small Business Health Care Tax Credits. The SBM offers high-quality, affordable health insurance coverage for all small businesses with 100 or fewer employees. Eligible small employers can access the Federal Small Business Health Care Tax Credit only when they enroll in a plan through the SBM.
The 10 insurers offering plans on the Small Business Marketplace in 2020 are: Capital District Physicians Health Plan, Empire (Empire Blue Cross and Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield), Excellus (Excellus Blue Cross Blue Shield in Central NY and Univera in Western NY), Healthfirst, Health Insurance Plan of Greater New York (EmblemHealth), Independent Health, MetroPlus Health Plan, MVP Health Care, Oscar Insurance Corp., and United Healthcare (Oxford).
The Marketplace will also offer the following seven stand-alone dental plans on the individual marketplace: Delta Dental, Dentcare, Empire BlueCross and Empire Blue Cross BlueShield, Guardian, HealthNow New York, Inc. (BlueShield of Northeastern NY; BlueCross BlueShield of Western NY), Healthplex and Solstice.
Consumers can plan ahead for Open Enrollment by browsing through their health plan options. Consumers can also use the NYS Provider & Health Plan Look-Up Tool to research provider networks and health plans. With this tool, consumers shopping for health insurance can search for their preferred health care providers, including doctors and hospitals, all in one place, to see which health plans have those providers in their network.
Enrollment in the Essential Plan, Medicaid and Child Health Plus is open all year. For additional information, visit the NY State of Health website at: nystateofhealth.ny.gov.
