Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey (Horizon BCBSNJ) today announced that an estimated 27,540 of their new enrollees in the individual market were previously uninsured. A total of 276,753 individuals chose a Horizon plan during the 2017 open enrollment period including 238,389 who selected an OMNIA plan. Ninety-four percent of OMNIA enrollees chose a Bronze (17%), Silver (46%), or Silver HSA (31%) plan. While rates increased by 33% on average in Pennsylvania and 16% in New York, premiums for OMNIA Bronze, Silver, and Silver HSA plans increased by just 6.2%, 5.4%, and 5.4% respectively.

“The results of open enrollment 2017 demonstrate that the demand for high quality, affordable health insurance continues to grow. OMNIA was designed to meet that need with a lower premium, access to our full network of providers, and the option to reduce out-of-pocket expenses by choosing certain doctors and hospitals,” said Robert A. Marino, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Horizon BCBSNJ. “The cost of care drives the cost of insurance and Horizon is committed to collaborating with doctors, hospitals and other health care providers that share our goals of improving quality outcomes, reducing costs, and delivering a better patient experience. Unfortunately, not everyone shares those goals and I am hopeful that Trenton will help by tackling surprise medical billing and out-of-network price gouging and dealing with this billion dollar problem once and for all.”

Of the previously uninsured New Jerseyans who chose a Horizon plan during open enrollment, 16% are Hispanic, 14% are African American, and 14% are Asian.

Beyond the Individual / Consumer market, Horizon continues to see strong demand for OMNIA. New Jersey employers of all sizes are recognizing the transformative nature of the OMNIA product and the underlying strategy to move to a value based environment. OMNIA has significantly increased across all markets, from groups with two employees, all the way up to those with thousands of employees.