With 1,364 Cook County residents under age 65 enrolled in UCare, changes in that program are causing concern for those people affected and staff at Cook County Public Health & Human Services (PHHS) who assist many of these folks.
Despite 55 of Minnesota’s 87 county’s recommending UCare, last August the state pulled 70 percent of the health plan’s business. According to Minnesota’s Department of Human Services, UCare lost the contracts because it didn’t score as high as its competition on cost and quality measures.
UCare can bid in the next contract round two years from now.
Only Olmsted County was allowed by the state to keep UCare. Coincidentally Olmsted County is where the Mayo Clinic is located.
Cook County residents will have until January 1, 2016 to choose an alternative plan by Blue Plus or HealthPartners.
Cook County’s PHHS Director Sue Futterer was quick to point out that while there was going to be a transition period, anyone who is now receiving UCare and undergoing treatment for a disease or is pregnant etc., would not lose their coverage when making this switch to a new plan.
Also, noted Futterer, anyone 65 and older will not be affected by this change in health care.
Futterer said the insurance companies would probably offer plans that are very similar to each other. But she cautioned that people should read carefully over the policies when making a decision.
“People need to see which benefits best apply to them, and find out where the companies’ health providers are located when making a selection,” she said.
Should someone need help, Futterer said her staff could be of some assistance, but added, “We’re not allowed to recommend one plan over another.”
Blue Plus is a health care plan through MinnesotaCare set up for people who need affordable health coverage but don’t qualify for medical assistance. It is also for working adults who don’t have a health plan through their employer. HealthPartners is a Minnesota-based not-for-profit HMO located in Bloomington, Minnesota whose mission is “to improve the health of our members and our community.”
UCare was started by the University of Minnesota Department of Family Practice and Community Health in the mid 1980s as a way to connect people who had little or no access to health care coverage.
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