Costco And Health Insurance

By Kellie Purden

In April, Costco, in partnership with Aetna, the U.S.’s third largest health insurer, began offering individual health care policies to its customers in nine states–Connecticut, Illinois, Texas, Michigan, Virginia, Georgia, Arizona, Pennsylvania and Nevada–as well as lower co-pays for customers who use Costco pharmacies. Aetna, which says the plans are about 5% cheaper than the individual policies that it normally offers, plans to add more states later this year.

Insurers, financial firms and retailers–anticipating that millions of uninsured people will have to buy health care by 2014 under the now Supreme Court–approved Affordable Care Act–have been experimenting with ways to snag new customers. Insurers like Humana, which now offers prescription-drug plans through Walmart, and Aetna, which also teamed up with Best Buy this spring to sell supplemental wellness plans, have been making landgrabs at big-box stores. Other insurers, like Highmark in Pennsylvania, BCBS of Florida and New York’s United Healthcare, have opted for their own brick-and-mortar outfits.

For Aetna, the Costco deal–which includes a choice of five Aetna medical plans and dental coverage–is a chance to shimmy up to a trusted retail brand and Costco’s 40 million U.S. members, many of whom own small businesses that don’t have group health care. For Costco, which gets the lion’s share of its profits from yearly membership fees, the motivation isn’t big commissions, which will come under pressure from health care reform. Instead, the health care offering is an added draw to becoming a Costco member. Costco is “making very narrow margins on these plans,” says Matt Arnold, a consumer analyst at Edward Jones. “But if they can identify something their members will find value in, they’ll offer it just to justify signing a one-year membership.”

The plans aren’t a steal. Even with a 5% discount, the premiums are pricey compared with employee-based plans, they don’t cover maternity leave, and the deductibles are sky-high. That’s because Costco, unlike employers that cut insurance deals for their workers, isn’t ponying up a guaranteed number of its members to sign up for the policies. Still, consumers may like that Costco–which prides itself on striking selective high-volume deals–is vetting a complex product in a murky industry. “Right now, consumers trying to buy their own individual policy have a really hard time figuring out what they’re getting,” says Sabrina Corlette, a health-policy researcher at Georgetown University. A retail front could make the daunting task of buying a health plan seem more routine. Costco members can learn about the plans at in-store kiosks and then purchase them online.

(From Costco site:)

Costco Insurance Agency, Inc., has teamed up with Aetna to offer five specially priced health insurance plans tailored for Costco members.

Important features you can count on:

* Premiums negotiated exclusively for Costco members

* Lower co-payments at Costco retail pharmacies

* Access to nationwide Aetna physician and hospital network

* Secure member web site/online health records

* 24/7 toll free nurse line

* Dental insurance benefits available for an additional premium

Executive Members also receive the services of Health Advocate, an independent third party service designed to help you understand and make the most of your health insurance benefits.

For consumers shopping for competitive health insurance rates

Something to this effect: For those consumers who are starting to shop health insurance plans, they may wish to visit the Costco site. We also recommend InsureMe where you can compare rates from dozens of health insurers such as Aetna, Humana, BCBS, Anthem, United Health and many more. They also include quotes from independent insurance agents as well. eHealthInsurance is another great source of plan comparisons.

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