| By :
Wiley Long
Anthem Blue Cross Life and Health Insurance Company is responding to the national health care crisis by offering two new affordable health plans for California residents. The two new plans will be rolled out in early 2010, providing low-cost insurance alternatives for the many Californians who either don't have insurance or who have health insurance plans that they are struggling to afford. The first of Anthem's new health insurance plans - CoreGuard - will become available on January 1, 2010. CoreGuard is a PPO plan that provides tax deductible options and prescription drug coverage. Most importantly for many California residents: the monthly premiums for CoreGuard will start at "prices to meet just about every budget," noted one California health insurance agent. As an example of the low-cost rates for the CoreGuard plan, the monthly premium for a male under the age of 40 is expected to be about $75 per month. However, as with most healthcare plans, participants will need to meet a deductible in order to receive coverage. Participants can select from a wide range of deductible amount and rate combinations to select the one that best for their budgets and healthcare needs. The second of Anthem's new affordable California health insurance plans is ClearProtection. ClearProtection will launch on February 1, 2010 and is designed to provide a wide range of benefits, but still offer first-dollar coverage. A male under the age of 40 will have a monthly deductible of about $69. ClearProtection is being touted as the PPO health insurance plan with the lowest rates of all of the Anthem PPO health insurance plans. Blue Cross of California has one of the largest networks of healthcare providers throughout the state of California, which includes more than 50,000 doctors and almost 400 hospitals accepting PPO health insurance. Anthem's health insurance plans also travel with participants across the country, helping to ensure that even if California plan holders leave the state, they will still be covered. In addition to the basic healthcare coverage provided by these two new Anthem PPO plans, participants can also select from optional coverage for healthcare needs such as dental and term life. Anthem's NextRX delivers prescription medications to California residents through the mail The two new health insurance programs from Anthem may be the newest additions to Anthem's health care program line-up, but they fall into line with a whole host of helpful healthcare services offered to California residents by Anthem. The NextRX program is Anthem's preferred mail service pharmacy, which is available to Anthem members who taken maintenance medications on a regular basis. Many of the medications that qualify as maintenance medications include drugs that are used to treat heart disease, diabetes, depression, allergies, and even oral contraceptives. When California residents enroll in the NextRX program by December 31, 2009, Anthem will waive the first co-pay for each generic prescription that participants transfer to NextRX. Anthem also offers state health programs In addition to the two new affordable health insurance plans offered by Anthem for California residents, Anthem also offers California state health programs, including Medi-Cal, Healthy Families, MRMIP, AIM, CMSP, and Telemedicine. Here's an overview of each of these different California healthcare programs: Medi-Cal is California's Medicaid Program, which is available at no cost for individuals and families who meet certain low-income or other qualifications. The Healthy Families Program is a low-cost managed care coverage program for children who live in households with financial situations that make them ineligible for the Medi-Cal Program. The MRMIP program (California Major Risk Medical Insurance Program) is a health insurance plan that is available for Californians who cannot obtain health insurance coverage in the individual health insurance market. AIM is the low-cost manage care coverage available for infants and their mothers who have family incomes too high for Medi-Cal coverage. CMSP is a program that provides medical, dental, and vision services for eligible low-income adults who live primarily in one of 34 rural communities who are also not eligible for the Medi-Cal program. Finally, the Anthem Blue Cross Telemedicine Program provides access to specialized healthcare for rural Californians. For more information about Anthem's CoreGuard and ClearProtection PPO health insurance plans, consumers should speak with a health insurance specialist who can explain the specific details of each different coverage option and type of plan. Also, in addition to Anthem's health insurance plans, California residents can select their health insurance plans from a wide variety of other health insurance carriers that service the state. A California health insurance specialist can help California residents to sift through all of the available health insurance options to find the right plan for their specific healthcare needs.
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