According Bloomberg and other news sources, IBM says it will move them to a health exchange where they may have cheaper plan options. IBM spokesperson, Doug Shelton, was quoted as saying the move will affect 100,000 medicare eligible retirees.
To handle the administration of this tremendous shift, IBM enrolled the help of Plano, Texas based insurance benefits administrator, Extend Health to handle calls, questions, and enrollment. IBM is the latest in a growing list of companies choosing to move health insurance benefits from private plans to state health exchanges in efforts to reduce costs and provide more consumer choice.
Other large organizations that have made similar moves include UPS and the State of Michigan. In the cases of the United Parcel Service and the state of Michigan, each of these institutions chose to move spouses to state exchanges in efforts to reduce group health insurance costs.
Individual health insurance mandates as required by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (a.k.a Obamacare) are scheduled to commence January 1, 2014. At that time, all Americans are required by law to carry approved health insurance. The open enrollment period for the Affordable Care Act begins October 1, 2013 and ends December 15, 2014 for policies to become effective January 1, 2014. Under requirements of the act, health insurance can no longer deny coverage due to pre-existing medical conditions.