Does this change BCBSM rates for my group?
Not by itself. A rate comes from your group’s rating, plan and renewal. Read your renewal on its own terms.
Your rate comes from your renewal
A BCBSM renewal reflects your group’s plan, rating and claims, and not another employer’s decision. Nothing in the reporting on GM’s change says that BCBSM’s rates for other groups are changing as a result.
Read your own renewal for what it is: separate trend from your group’s experience and margin, so you know what is negotiable. Our renewal guides walk through that.
Why another employer’s decision does not move your rate
A BCBSM renewal is built from your group’s plan, rating factors, and, depending on size and funding, your own claims. One employer’s change of carrier is not an input to it. Nothing in the reporting we reviewed says that GM’s move changes pricing for other groups.
If your renewal looks high, the useful question is why. Ask what trend, claims and pooling assumptions were used. We review the renewal line by line and compare it with other carriers so you can tell whether the number is a market effect or a group-specific one.
Where to go from here
Read your renewal against the average
Separate trend from your own claims experience.
Know what BCBSM offers your group
Plan families, networks and the questions we ask before a BCBSM renewal.
Send us your renewal
Share the renewal and plan documents and we will tell you what to test.
More questions on this topic
Is GM’s move connected to the state’s lawsuit against BCBSM?
The two were reported in the same period.
Can a mid-size employer do something similar?
Self-funded and level-funded arrangements exist for smaller groups, with stop-loss to limit risk.
What should we ask before changing carriers?
Which providers stay in network, how pharmacy is handled, what happens to claims in progress, how stop-loss attaches, and what it does to employee costs.
Where these details come from.
Details are from press coverage as of publication. GM’s plan and timing are as reported and may change.
Send us your renewal.
We’ll tell you whether it looks competitive, where we see opportunity, and the five questions we’d put to your carrier. No cost, and no obligation to move anything.
The renewal letter
Your current plan summary
Contribution split by tier
Enrolled counts by tier
Four documents — two more if your group is 50 or more. Nothing else; every extra one is a reason to postpone.