Independence Blue Cross Unveils New University-Based Strategy to Capture Young Adult Market in Pennsylvania

NASHVILLE, Tenn., July 15 /PRNewswire/ -- HealthLeaders-InterStudy, a leading provider of managed care market intelligence, reports that with the enactment of national healthcare reform, insurers are moving quickly to adapt their strategies to a changing landscape, including federal reform that requires insurers allow young adults to remain on family health insurance policies. According to the recent Philadelphia Market Overview, the market's dominant plan, Independence Blue Cross, unveiled a new university-based strategy to capture the young adult market. Beginning in the fall of 2010, college students throughout Southeastern Pennsylvania will be able to enroll in the Independence Blue Cross Student PPO plan.

The report finds that this strategy is an expansion of the healthcare options already being offered by Independence Blue Cross to staff and faculty at most of the region's schools, and in response to demands by universities and colleges for affordable and flexible options for students. Some colleges are expecting to build this new plan into their students' tuition fees, and it will include an "opt-out" option if parents want their children to remain on their policies.

"The new Independence Blue Cross Student PPO plan follows on the heels of national and statewide reforms that require health plans to allow young people to join their parents' policies and is another example of how plans are preparing for reform mandates," said HealthLeaders-InterStudy Analyst Christian Bottorff. "Independence Blue Cross is expected to price these new plans competitively, and in some cases cheaper, than what it would cost for a student to be insured through a parent's plan, and will likely give the insurer a strong foothold in Pennsylvania's young adult market."

In addition to providing detailed analysis of how insurers are moving quickly to prepare for healthcare reform, the Philadelphia Market Overview provides local-level insights about:

• The moderately consolidated Philadelphia physician sector, which has been constricted by a highly-challenging reimbursement climate.
• Medicaid related developments, including cuts in the state's supplemental payments to hospitals.
• Market factors favorable to pharmaceutical sales and potential obstacles.
• Employers and the types of plans they are turning to, to manage costs.

Why Pharmaceutical Sales Representatives Need Market Overviews

Market Overviews provide a detailed analysis of local healthcare market drivers in 87 of the nation's most dynamic metro areas.

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SOURCE HealthLeaders-InterStudy