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50,000 North Carolinians finding out they need new health plans

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — ​​​​​​Blue Cross Blue Shield is dropping certain individual and family plans, known as grandfathered plans.

When the Affordable Care Act went into law in 2010, those customers were allowed to keep their plans.

Last month, Action 9 investigator Jason Stoogenke reported BCBS is nixing those plans, and now, customers are getting letters telling them specifics about the action.

There will be 50,000 BCBS customers who need new plans come January.

Those customers can go with other companies, the insurance their work offers or BCBS's Affordable Care Act plans.

BCBS officials said, for the most part, the ACA plans will cover more services and limit out-of-pocket expenses. Company officials also admit many customers "will pay quite a bit more" than they're paying now.
Young women and older men will likely pay less. Young men and older women will likely pay more.

BCBS officials said the company is discontinuing grandfathered plans because many customers have given them up since the ACA began.
BCBS officials said they went from having more than 300,000 enrolled to just 50,000.
The people left are sicker and older, so the old plans are no longer cost-effective.

"Kind of defeats the purpose of what grandfathered means," customer Terri Gerlach told Stoogenke.

She's been cancer-free for a year and works in the health industry.

She has a good job with good insurance, but it's pricey, so years ago, she bought her own plan for her family, a plan that became a grandfathered plan.

"I don't want to change. I mean, this is where we've kind of figured out how this plan works, and it works well for us," she said. "I just want the word to get out so customers have as much time as possible to find other plans.”

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