Anthem Opens Online Store For Medicare Plans

Indianapolis-based Wellpoint's Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield subsidiary has opened an online store aimed at helping baby boomers — consumers born between 1945 and 1964 — select Medicare plans.

The store offers an educational, "Help Me Choose" path; as well as quotes for consumers who know what type of plan they want. A tool allows visitors to enter their prescription drugs, including quantity and frequency, and get a personalized report on which of Anthem's plans cover their drugs, including lower-cost alternatives. Visitors also can enter their hospitals and physicians to see which plan networks include their providers, and use a sliding scale to observe the tradeoffs between premiums and benefits.

"We know an increasing number of Baby Boomers are searching the Internet for information as well as for goods and services," Krista Bowers, SVP of the senior division for Wellpoint, says in a statement. "It was our goal to create an online experience with health care that mirrors what they might see at retail shopping sites."

Nathan Golia is senior editor of Insurance & Technology. He joined the publication in 2010 as associate editor and covers all aspects of the nexus between insurance and information technology, including mobility, distribution, core systems, customer interaction, and risk ... View Full Bio