Small business health insurance plan could have dramatic effect

BY JANICE FRANCIS-SMITH

THE JOURNAL RECORD



OKLAHOMA CITY ? Small businesses throughout Oklahoma can now offer health insurance to their employees at the kind of affordable rates big companies enjoy. Oklahoma Chamber Blue, which becomes effective Jan. 1, provides group insurance rates to individual small businesses through their membership in local chambers of commerce throughout Oklahoma. The plan was announced Monday by The State Chamber and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Oklahoma.



"Oklahoma Chamber Blue works by combining employees of small businesses who are members of either The State Chamber or their local chambers of commerce into one larger insured group," said Wyndham Kidd, president of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Oklahoma. "This allows small employers to take advantage of health plan options formerly available only to larger companies."



Similar group health insurance plans are already available to businesses in 15 counties in the Oklahoma City and Tulsa areas, through the two metro area chambers of commerce. Oklahoma Chamber Blue is designed to serve businesses in Oklahoma's other 62 counties.



No medical underwriting is required for participation in Oklahoma Chamber Blue ? coverage is guaranteed for businesses with fewer than 100 employees that are members of either The State Chamber or one or more of the 200 local chambers of commerce throughout Oklahoma.



"You can be a member of a local chamber and get this insurance without being a member of The State Chamber," said Mike Seney, senior vice president of operations for The State Chamber. "This is very unique. I don't think it's been done anywhere else in the country."



The program is designed to reduce the number of Oklahomans who currently have no health coverage at all, said Matt Robison, vice president of small business and work force development for The State Chamber. Oklahoma has one of the largest uninsured populations of any state, "which has a dramatic impact on insurance premiums for everybody else," said Robison.



Both PPO and HMO plans are available through Oklahoma Chamber Blue, which includes prescription drug coverage and $20 office visit co-payments. Options include no deductible or a $500 annual deductible and dental coverage.



Businesses participating in the plan may also be able to take advantage of the Oklahoma Employer/employee Partnership for Insurance Coverage, or O-EPIC, program. The state will help pay health insurance premiums for employees with a household income at or below 185 percent of the federal poverty level working for businesses with fewer than 25 employees.



Sheila Lee, vice president of the Lawton-Ft. Sill Chamber of Commerce, said the program is going to make a huge difference in the number of the insured in Oklahoma's rural areas. Hundreds of businesses employing thousands of Oklahomans are expected to sign up for the program.