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What could change in your health insurance after Anthem, MDwise leave state exchange

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Two health insurance providers in Indiana announced Wednesday they will no longer offer options for people on the state health care exchange next year.

Those companies are Anthem and MDwise.

Estimates show nearly 80,000 Hoosiers will be left picking new insurance providers and there are a couple important points experts want you to know Wednesday night.

First, there are still two health care insurance providers in Indiana for the open market. Second, this takes effect in 2018, so there’s a lot of time for people to make these important decisions

“I would tell them to just shop around for those plans that best meet their family needs and their financial needs,” said Pamela Humes, the program director for Covering Kids and Families of Indiana, which helps sign up thousands of Hoosiers for health insurance on the state exchange.

The two providers to pick from now will be CareSource and Managed Health Services.

“We have two. Some states only have one,” said Humes.

She added when a state only has one insurance provider, it creates a monopoly on the market and could cause prices to jump.

But some Hoosiers are wondering if prices could go north in Indiana anyway. So we asked.

“It’s a real possibility,” she said, and then added that every insurance plan is different from one another so it would depend.

Humes said you may have to change doctors depending on whether they accept your new insurance.

“A lot of people don’t want to change up — they’ve been going to this doctor forever — but sometimes in these situations that does happen and we just try to help the person get to the best possible situation,” said Humes.

But we’re very early in the process. Prices for next year haven’t been released, and any changes in federal law could cause a seismic shift in Indiana health care.

“If we go through some training today it could change tomorrow,” she said.

Humes said the changes make it that much more important to talk to a certified navigator if you have any questions because they have gone through more than 60 hours of training to help pick the healthcare plan best for you.

Open enrollment for next year starts in November.

It’s important to note that this change for Anthem and MDwise will only affect the marketplace exchange. Medicaid, Medicare and Healthy Indiana Plan (HIP) 2.0 customers will not see any change.

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