Humana offers individual health plans

Other insurers may follow or expand sales of individual insurance products, with demand expected to increase.

By Julie A. Jacob, AMNews staff. July 22, 2002.

Humana Inc. is moving into the individual health insurance market. In June, Humana introduced an individual health insurance plan in Illinois and Ohio, and will be unrolling the product in additional states.

Humana developed the individual health plan because more employees who work for businesses that don't offer health insurance, early retirees and self-employed people were looking for health insurance, said a company news release

According to a 2001 Mercer/Foster Higgins report, employer health care premiums are projected to rise an average of 12.7% this year, and 13% of small employers are considering dropping health insurance benefits due to rising costs. Only 29% of large employers offer health care benefits to pre-Medicare retirees, according to the survey.

The plans will be similar to group PPO plans with tiered pharmacy benefits. Individuals may be offered full coverage or may be offered plans with additional premiums for certain conditions or riders excluding certain conditions, said Humana spokesman Mark Mathis.

While Mathis declined to give specific information on premium prices for the individual plans, he noted, "Humana's size may provide an advantage in securing volume discounts that translate into savings for consumers."

Humana has contracts with 296,000 physicians and 3,700 hospitals across the country. [...]