DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa’s dominant health insurer has agreed to start selling policies that will qualify for subsidies under the Affordable Care Act.
Wellmark Blue Cross & Blue Shield announced Monday that plans will be available for 2017. The Des Moines Register reports (http://dmreg.co/1Rr1rAR ) that the company has not previously participated in the Affordable Care Act’s online health-insurance marketplace, which was launched in the fall of 2013.
As a result, moderate-income Iowa residents were not able to choose Wellmark insurance if they wanted to purchase policies that qualified for new federal subsidies to help pay their premiums.
Wellmark sells more than three-quarters of all health-insurance policies that Iowa consumers purchase on their own in lieu of coverage through an employer or government program.
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