BCBS of NC Refunds Premiums

Health insurance regulators in North Carolina have identified nearly $156 million in refunds owed to Blue Cross policyholders because of changes coming under the nation's new health law. Consumers with policies at other companies across the nation also may deserve refunds, says North Carolina Insurance Commissioner Wayne Goodwin. ... The health care law will dramatically change how health policies are sold in 2014, and many plans in effect now will cease to exist that year in their current form. Yet state regulators who scrutinized a recent rate increase request by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina say they discovered the insurer was collecting reserves to pay claims beyond 2014. ... The result: Blue Cross has agreed by year's end to send refunds to more than 215,000 North Carolina policyholders with individual plans in force on March 23 -- the date the new health law was enacted.