3 ways insurers can discourage sick from enrolling
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_INSURERS_SICK_PATIENTS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2014-08-27-15-09-24
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- FORM NARROW NETWORKS
Insurers can lower their chances for covering patients with expensive medical conditions like cancer and autism simply by limiting the number of doctors and hospitals in a coverage network. That would send those patients searching for coverage elsewhere because they don't want to pay expensive, out-of-network rates.
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- CAUSE PRESCRIPTION STICKER SHOCK
Some plans are requiring patients to initially pay 30 percent or more of the bill for drugs that can cost several thousand dollars a month. HIV drugs and multiple sclerosis medications are among them.
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- ENTER MARKETS CAUTIOUSLY
Another way insurers might land a healthier population is by playing the waiting game.
The nation's largest health insurer, UnitedHealth Group Inc., will dive into the overhaul's public insurance exchanges with plans to sell 2015 individual coverage in 24 exchanges. That's up from only four in 2014.