About Blue Cross Blue Shield

Blue Cross Blue Shield is made up of 34 independent and locally operated health insurance companies.
Blue Cross Blue Shield insurers comprise a large portion of health plans on the Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplace at HealthCare.gov, where you can compare plans when you don’t have access to workplace health insurance. Blue Cross Blue Shield’s plans include preferred provider organization (PPO) plans, which aren’t as common in the marketplace as health maintenance organization (HMO) and exclusive provider organization (EPO) plans.

Blue Cross Blue Shield plans offer bronze, silver, gold and platinum tier level plans in the ACA marketplace. Platinum plans, which offer low out-of-pocket costs but higher premiums, are usually hard to find in the health insurance marketplace.

Members of certain Blue Cross Blue Shield plans can join Blue365 for free health and wellness discounts. There are discounts for fitness products, such as Fitbit, hearing and vision, such as Target Optical, and meal boxes from Freshly.

Members also get access to doctors and hospitals in more than 200 countries through Blue Cross Blue Shield Global Core.

Names of Blue Cross Blue Shield Health Insurance Companies

Health plans are offered by different Blue Cross Blue Shield companies in each state. Some states even have more than one Blue Cross Blue Shield.

  • Alabama: Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama
  • Alaska: Premera Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alaska
  • Arizona: Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona
  • Arkansas: Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield
  • California: Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield of California
  • Colorado: Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield Colorado
  • Connecticut: Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield Connecticut
  • Delaware: Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield Delaware
  • District of Columbia: CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield
  • Florida: Florida Blue and BlueCross BlueShield of Puerto Rico
  • Georgia: Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Georgia
  • Hawaii: Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Hawaii
  • Idaho: Blue Cross of Idaho and Regence BlueShield of Idaho
  • Illinois: Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois
  • Iowa: Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield
  • Kansas: Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas
  • Kentucky: Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield Kentucky
  • Louisiana: Blue Cross Blue Shield of Louisiana
  • Maine: Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield Maine
  • Maryland: CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield
  • Massachusetts: Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts
  • Michigan: Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan
  • Minnesota: Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota
  • Mississippi: Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Mississippi
  • Missouri: Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield Missouri and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas City
  • Montana: Blue Cross Blue Shield of Montana
  • Nebraska: Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Nebraska
  • Nevada: Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield Nevada
  • New Hampshire: Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield New Hampshire
  • New Jersey: Horizon Blue Cross and Blue Shield of New Jersey
  • New Mexico: Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Mexico
  • New York: Empire Blue Cross and Blue Shield, Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield of Western New York, Highmark Blue Shield of Northeastern New York and Excellus BlueCross BlueShield
  • North Carolina: Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina
  • North Dakota: Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Dakota
  • Ohio: Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield Ohio
  • Oklahoma: Blue Cross Blue Shield of Oklahoma
  • Oregon: Regence BlueCross BlueShield of Oregon
  • Pennsylvania: Capital Blue Cross, Highmark Blue Shield, Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield and Independence Blue Cross
  • Rhode Island: Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island
  • South Carolina: Blue Cross Blue Shield of South Carolina
  • South Dakota: Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield
  • Tennessee: BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee
  • Texas: Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas
  • Utah: Regence BlueCross BlueShield of Utah
  • Vermont: Blue Cross Blue Shield of Vermont
  • Virginia: Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield Virginia and CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield
  • Washington: Premera Blue Cross and Regence BlueShield
  • West Virginia: Highmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield West Virginia
  • Wisconsin: Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield Wisconsin
  • Wyoming: Blue Cross Blue Shield of Wyoming

Types of Health Insurance Offered by Blue Cross Blue Shield

Blue Cross Blue Shield offers both group health insurance through employers and individual health insurance. It also provides Medicare Advantage plans.

GeoBlue, a licensee of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, provides health insurance coverage for people who travel internationally and for Americans who are living abroad.

Types of Plans Available from Blue Cross Blue Shield

Blue Cross Blue Shield offers three types of plans on the ACA marketplace:

  • HMO: Health maintenance organization (HMO) plans typically only cover in-network care by network providers. HMOs also generally require members to name a primary care provider to oversee care and get referrals to see specialists.
  • EPO: Exclusive provider organization (EPO) plans generally require members to get in-network care, but unlike HMOs, an EPO doesn’t usually demand a referral to see a specialist.
  • PPO: Preferred provider organization (PPO) plans offer more flexibility but that comes at a higher health insurance premium than HMOs and EPOs. PPOs allow members to get out-of-network care. Out-of-network care costs more than getting care by in-network providers. PPOs also don’t require referrals to see specialists.

Extra Benefits from Blue Cross Blue Shield

Blue Cross Blue Shield plans often provide extra benefits, such as MyBlue, an online account for members to view their coverage, find in-network doctors, track and manage claims, and submit fitness and weight-loss reimbursements.

Blue365 allows you to get member discounts on health and wellness, fitness, financial health, personal care and lifestyle services.

How Much Do Blue Cross Blue Shield Health Insurance Plans Cost?

Blue Cross Blue Shield health insurance costs an average of $506 a month for a 30-year-old with an ACA marketplace plan. That cost typically increases with age.

Average Blue Cross Blue Shield Health Insurance Cost by Age

Age of member Average monthly costs for a BCBS plan
Age 21
$444
Age 27
$468
Age 30
$506
Age 40
$$69
Age 50
$795
Age 60
$1,206
Source: Healthcare.gov. Based on unsubsidized ACA plans.

ACA marketplaces plans are divided by metal tier: bronze, silver, gold and platinum based on costs. Bronze and silver plans have the lowest premiums but the most out-of-pocket costs when you need healthcare. Platinum and gold have higher premiums but fewer out-of-pocket costs.

Bronze and silver plans are the most common type of plan, while platinum plans are fairly rare.

Average Costs for Blue Cross Blue Shield by Metal Plan

Age of member Average monthly cost for a BCBS Bronze plan Average monthly cost for a BCBS Silver plan Average monthly cost for a BCBS Gold plan
Age 21
$358
$476
$525
Age 27
$377
$503
$554
Age 30
$407
$543
$599
Age 40
$458
$611
$674
Age 50
$641
$854
$942
Age 60
$972
$1,296
$1,429
Source: Healthcare.gov. Based on unsubsidized ACA plans. Blue Cross Blue Shield doesn’t offer many Platinum plans, so we didn’t include those averages.

How Blue Cross Blue Shield Costs Compare to Other Companies

Health insurance costs vary by company and there are so many different types of Blue Cross Blue Shield insurers that there can be wide variations in costs for those plans.

Overall, average Blue Cross Blue Shield costs are higher than top competitors, but check with your local Blue Cross plan to see what that specific company charges.

Average Monthly Costs for ACA Marketplace Plan by Company

Age of member Blue Cross Blue Shield average monthly cost Aetna average monthly cost Cigna average monthly cost UnitedHealthcare average monthly cost
Age 21
$444
$365
$390
$396
Age 27
$468
$382
$417
$415
Age 30
$506
$414
$449
$450
Age 40
$569
$466
$504
$506
Age 50
$795
$651
$705
$708
Age 60
$1,206
$990
$1,066
$1,076
Source: Healthcare.gov. Based on unsubsidized ACA plans.

HMOs: Average Monthly Health Insurance Costs

Company Age 30 Age 40 Age 50 Age 60
$414
$466
$651
$990
$417
$470
$657
$998
Blue Cross Blue Shield
$441
$497
$694
$1,055
$436
$491
$686
$1,043
$400
$451
$630
$957
$407
$458
$641
$974
$431
$486
$679
$1,032
Average costs are for unsubsidized plans.

EPOs: Average Monthly Health Insurance Costs

Company Age 30 Age 40 Age 50 Age 60
$413
$465
$650
$988
$432
$487
$680
$1,034
Blue Cross Blue Shield
$550
$617
$864
$1,307
$459
$513
$720
$1,084
$383
$431
$602
$915
$411
$463
$647
$983
$490
$552
$772
$1,172
Average costs are for unsubsidized plans.

PPOs: Average Monthly Health Insurance Costs

Company Age 30 Age 40 Age 50 Age 60
$400
$451
$630
$957
Blue Cross Blue Shield
$529
$596
$833
$1,266
Average costs are for unsubsidized plans. Note: PPOs aren’t as common in the ACA marketplace, so there are few plans for which to get company averages.

Reviews & Ratings for Blue Cross Blue Shield

Complaints filed with state insurance departments against Blue Cross Blue Shield for individual health insurance are a bit higher than the industry average, but lower than some competitors.

Other ratings for Blue Cross Blue Shield include:

  • Average National Committee for Quality Assurance rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
  • AM Best financial strength: A (Excellent)

Blue Cross Blue Shield received the second best average NCQA marks among the companies we analyzed (tied with UnitedHealthcare and behind only Kaiser Permanente). The insurer received its highest marks for prevention and treatment, but patient experience was not as strong.

AM Best affirmed its A (Excellent) Financial Strength Rating for Elevance, which is the largest Blue Cross insurance company. Elevance subsidiaries include Anthem Blue Cross plans, which are offered in 14 states. In affirming the rating, AM Best praised the company’s “strong operating performance, favorable business profile and appropriate enterprise risk management.”

Methodology

We used the following data to determine the best health insurance companies.

  • Complaints made to state insurance departments (30% of score): We used complaint data from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners.
  • Plan ratings from the National Committee for Quality Assurance (30% of score): The National Committee for Quality Assurance is an independent, nonprofit organization that accredits health plans and produces ratings based on specific metrics.
  • Average silver plan deductible (20% of score): The deductible is how much you have to pay for healthcare services in a year before the health plan begins picking up a portion of the costs.
  • Breadth of health plans (10% of score): Health insurance companies may offer up to four types of plan benefit designs (PPO, HMO, EPO and POS).
  • Metal tier offerings (10% of score): We gave points to companies offering more metal tiers. The ACA marketplace has four metal tier levels.

Find The Best Health Insurance Companies Of 2024

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