NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The Chamber Blue Interest Survey is live for less than two more weeks.
"Chamber Blue rolled out last year," said Debra Teufel with the Hutchinson/Reno County Chamber of Commerce. "It was a collaboration of about 50 chambers of commerce across Kansas that knew that our small business members need options when it comes to affordable health insurance for their employees. From that, we worked with different providers and selected Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas. They created a product called Chamber Blue. We promoted it to our membership. I can't even tell you how many members across Kansas have enrolled in it. I know it's helped a large number of our small businesses that are Hutch Chamber members. Now, it's time for the new enrollment."
Businesses that would be new to Chamber Blue must complete the survey to be eligible to see the rates and enroll for the 2024 enrollment period.
"If you were in it last year, you are in it for the future," Teufel said. "You will see your rates come out later this fall. We also wanted to have an open enrollment period. If you're a small business between two to fifty employees, you would qualify to click on the link on our website. Sometimes you have to put some census data about your employee base. Then, they will pull all that data in and then be able to create the new pool for this year and the new rate structure."
Once rates are released in October, a BCBSKS representative will reach out to review with any businesses that complete the survey.
"The larger the pool, it spreads the risk and it should result in better rate structures for everyone," Teufel said. "Sometimes, a small business, your options are limited and your premiums are higher, unfortunately. This is just one way to give you another option to consider for being able to provide a really valuable benefit to your employees."
The open enrollment period for new businesses that join Chamber Blue will be in November for a January 2024 start date.
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