Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield

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Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arkansas

Founded in 1948, Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield (www.arkbluecross.com) is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. It is the largest health insurer in Arkansas, which caters to the needs of about 40 percent of the fully insured market. Arkansas Blue Cross and its family of affiliated companies employ more than 2,800 people. It is a nonprofit mutual insurance company and almost all the money it collects as premium is paid out in benefits for customers. In figures, it amounts to about 85 cents of every dollar. The remaining 15 cents is utilized for operating expenses and reserve funds, which we are required by law to maintain. As a nonprofit, mutual insurance company, Arkansas Blue Cross is owned by its policyholders and not by stockholders. As a result, premium dollars are used solely to pay claims and administrative costs, not to pay stock dividends. Any excess funds are kept as reserve for payment of future claims.

Arkansas Blue Cross maintains full-service regional offices serving seven designated geographic areas of the state. These offices, headquartered in Fayetteville, Fort Smith, Hot Springs, Little Rock, Jonesboro, Pine Bluff and Texarkana, offer sales, customer service, medical management and provider relations services to counties in their parts of the state. The fully insured membership served by Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield was 407,061 at the end of 2005. According to a report from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC), there were 373 companies in Arkansas selling accident and health insurance in 2004. The report says that Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield had a 40.9 percent market share of the total accident and health insurance premiums written in Arkansas in 2004. The market share of Health Advantage, an affiliated HMO company and 50 percent owned by Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield was 8.7 percent in 2004.

Arkansas Blue Cross Blue Shield offers various health insurance plans such as individual and family plans, Medicare plans, employee group plans, and dental plans. Among individual and family health plans (available only to residents of Arkansas) are Short-Term Blue, BlueChoice® PPO, Blue Solution PPO, BasicBlue, HSA Blue PPO and HSA Blue PPO PLUS. BlueSecure is a long term care insurance that covers the costs of care if you become unable to perform activities of daily living as a result of an accident, debilitating illness or aging. Its employee group plans include True Blue PPO, Group BasicBlue, BlueAdvantage Administrators of Arkansas (self-insured groups), Comprehensive Major Medical, Dental Blue, Health Advantage, MyChoice Blue, Managed Pharmacy Program and Blue-by-design. The Medicare plans from Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield include Medi-Pak Advantage, Medi-Pak 2007, Medi-Pak 2006, Medi-Pak Rx 2007 and Medi-Pak Rx 2006.

Only Arkansas residents can apply for coverage under these health insurance plans. If you are a resident of another state, you may get in touch with the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association site for necessary information.

Street address of Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield:
601 S. Gaines Street, Little Rock, AR;

Mailing address:
Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield, P.O. Box 2181, Little Rock, AR 72203-2181.

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