Kind of a hard question to answer....around here...northwest PA...the Blues are everywhere....
but there are other providers...like UPMC, HealthAmerica, Aetna to name a couple....
the premium costs are factored usually by experience, average family size in a community, average community age, administrative costs, reinsurance (sometimes called stop-loss)
and a little beauty known as the "trend factor"...which is money you pay now for money they might have to pay later due to inflation or increased health care costs....last I knew...this buffer...or trend factor..was running at 18% on the medical side and 23% on the prescription side...
then, at least in my experience....rates are assigned within the zip code in which you reside....
of course, if you opt for higher copays and or deductibles, the monthly premiums go down...and prescription costs are a driving force in health care costs..
so...my best advice...shop around with the providers in your area....talk with who would be your primary care physician or attending physician...
ask them why they like this provider or that...and remember...the physicians usually ike the provider that has the fsater turn around time from when they give a treatment to when they get paid....
the Blues seem to be more attractive sometimes because of the discounts they can get and sometimes becasue of the brokers being "blue circled" ...but that doesn't always mean they are the
best buy...so...shop around...
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