The Louisiana Health Insurance Market is dominated by one company, Louisiana Health Service & Indemnity Company, who trade as Blue Shield of Louisiana and Blue Cross and who are a mutual insurance company that was founded in 1934, and who have their headquarters in Baton Rouge.
The 2010 annual report from the Louisiana Insurance regulator shows that Louisiana Health Service & Indemnity Company control almost two-thirds of the individual Louisiana Health Insurance market, and over half of the Group Louisiana Health Insurance Market and so you may not have heard as much about some of their competitors who may also be able to offer you a deal on your cover.
Here is the Top Ten Individual Louisiana Health Insurance Companies and their Market Share (2009):
1/ Louisiana Health Service & Indemnity Company 65.38%
2/ HMO of Louisiana, Inc. 14.06%
3/ Humana Health Benefit Plan of Louisiana 6.25%
4/ Time Insurance Co. 3.15%
5/ Coventry Health Care of Louisiana, Inc. 2.59%
6/ Mega Life & Health Insurance Co. 1.65%
7/ Aetna Life Insurance Co. 1.28%
8/ Mid-West National Life Insurance Co. of TN 1.06%
9/ United American Insurance Co. 0.86%
10/ State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. 0.45%
Here is the Top Ten Group Louisiana Health Insurance Companies and their Market Share (2009):
1/ Louisiana Health Service & Indemnity Co. 51.29%
2/ HMO of Louisiana 13.37%
3/ United Healthcare Insurance Co. 12.58%
4/ Humana Health Benefit Plan of Louisiana 8.93%
5/ Coventry Health Care of Louisiana, Inc. 3.68%
6/ Health Plus of Louisiana, Inc. 2.28%
7/ Aetna Life Insurance Co. 1.95%
8/ Vantage Health Plan, Inc. 1.82%
9/ United Healthcare of Louisiana 1.09%
10/ Connecticut General Life Insurance Co. 0.64%
So it is clear from the statistics that health insurance in Louisiana is very top heavy with the top three largest companies controlling 85.69% of the Louisiana Individual Health Insurance Market, and 77.24% of the Louisiana Group Health Insurance Market.
Remember that if you are under 26 then because of the Affordable Care Act it may be that you can still stay covered under your parent’s policy, and so even if you have left to attend the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, or Southeastern Louisiana University, you may still be able to stay covered under their policy and save yourself some money.
Similarly, if you have a wife or husband who is employed, then it is a good idea to check out the provisions of their works companies Group insurance policy to see if it is better than your own. It may be that you will be able to get covered under it as their spouse, and if the terms and costs are better than it makes sense to switch to the better deal.
It is a good idea if you are currently seeking to either change your health insurance, or see exactly what is available in the market to get quotes not only from the three biggest players in the market, but also to get several from the smaller companies.
At the end of the day sometimes a hungry competitor is able to offer better deals to secure the business. It may be that Blue Shield of Louisiana and Blue Cross are offering the best deals, but there can often be a sense of traction in markets where there is a clear leader, and people can get drawn to the biggest and most historic product offerings out of habit even if they aren’t necessarily the best.
It is certainly worth checking as you can easily get Louisiana Health Insurance Quotes for free, and a little time spent now may save you considerable thousands of dollars and much heartache (if you choose the wrong policy) in the months and years to come.
