Insurer aims to accelerate innovation in other market segments
For more information contact:
Kelly Cannon
Kelly.Cannon@BlueKC.com
O: (816) 395-3711
KANSAS CITY, MO. (May 30, 2024)—Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City (Blue KC) announced today it will exit the Medicare Advantage market at the end of 2024 citing heightened regulatory demands and rising market and financial pressures. The not-for-profit organization, which insures roughly one million individuals across the Kansas City region, remains focused on its range of employer-sponsored health plans, Medicare Supplement offerings, as well as its array of individual and family plans for those under 65, including Affordable Care Act plans.
While Blue KC is the largest not-for-profit health insurer in Missouri, serving 32 counties including Johnson and Wyandotte in Kansas, the organization’s relatively small Medicare Advantage membership does not provide the scale required to successfully compete in today’s complex and continuously changing market. Blue KC’s decision to exit Medicare Advantage will allow the company to accelerate innovation in other market segments so it can continue to deliver affordable, high-quality healthcare coverage to its commercial employer groups and individual members, including ACA and Medicare Supplement plans long into the future.
“We explored every alternative path for our Medicare Advantage members and are disappointed we must exit this line of business,” said Erin Stucky, Blue KC President and CEO. “We value our MA members and are committed to providing uninterrupted, quality service to our current Medicare Advantage membership through the end of 2024.”
Blue KC’s Medicare Advantage membership represents approximately 30,000 individuals. The organization is informing impacted members and will provide more information about alternative 2025 coverage options. Local agents will be available to support Medicare Advantage members during annual enrollment, which runs from mid-October through early December.
About Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City, the largest not-for-profit health insurer in Missouri and the only not-for-profit commercial health insurer in Kansas City, has been part of the Kansas City community since 1938. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City provides health coverage services to more than one million residents in the greater Kansas City area, including Johnson and Wyandotte counties in Kansas and 30 counties in Northwest Missouri. Our mission: to provide affordable access to healthcare and to improve the health of our members. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. For more information on the company, visit its website at BlueKC.com.
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. The HMO products are offered by Blue-Advantage Plus of Kansas City, Inc. and the PPO products are offered by Missouri Valley Life and Health Insurance Company, both independent licensees of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, and wholly-owned subsidiaries of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City.
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