BISMARCK, N.D. – Insurance Commissioner Jon Godfread today confirmed that Sanford Health Plan will offer coverage on the Affordable Care Act (ACA) Exchange for individual health insurance plans in some North Dakota counties for 2018. The Sanford TRUE plan will be available for purchase on the Exchange in the following counties – Traill, Cass, Oliver, Burleigh and Morton – while their Simplicity plan will be available statewide off the Exchange. Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Dakota will continue to offer health insurance statewide both on and off the Exchange in 2018, while Medica will only offer coverage through means outside of the Exchange.
“The Insurance Department appreciates Sanford Health Plan and Blue Cross Blue Shield’s commitment to provide health insurance on the federal Exchange to North Dakota consumers following the announcement regarding the non-payment of cost sharing reductions to insurance carriers,” Godfread said. “We are fortunate in North Dakota to still have meaningful competition in our health insurance market, something that does not exist in a number of states across the country.”
Consumers seeking to purchase health insurance on the Exchange will be able to purchase the Sanford TRUE plan from Sanford Health Plan if they reside in Traill, Cass, Oliver, Burleigh and Morton counties. North Dakota consumers who do not receive a subsidy or choose not to purchase insurance on the Exchange will be able to purchase a variety of plans from BCBSND, Sanford Health Plan or Medica through means outside of the Exchange, such as with an insurance agent, in all North Dakota counties.
“The past two weeks have made it abundantly clear that we need health care reform, sooner rather than later. The collective experiences of the Department and the insurance carriers has been one of uncertainty and frustration due to the resistance to reform our broken health care law. This was a situation that could have been avoided and we were hopeful that those in D.C. would come to a resolution. Unfortunately, that is not the case and because of that failure, North Dakotans have been forced to face a marketplace with fewer options in the remaining few weeks leading up to the Open Enrollment Period,” Godfread said. “We have done everything we can at the state level to help insulate our consumers from the collapse of the ACA, it is now up to Congress to address the challenges we are facing and give us meaningful reform to our health care law. I look forward to continuing to work with leaders in Congress as we find solutions that work for North Dakota.”