By RFD Radio Network

SPRINGFIELD – Illinoisans who rely on Blue Cross Blue Shield may be affected by a recently-announced change in coverage.

Blue Cross will discontinue its broad Preferred Provider Organization plan in 2016. The Broad PPO was offered in 2014 and 2015. BCBS Illinois spokesman Michael Deering said the plan is being discontinued for individual insurance buyers, but will still be available for small business and employer groups.

“That network literally included every hospital in the state of Illinois, so it wasn’t exactly a preferred network,” Deering said. “That particular network just became, after we assessed two years worth of medical claim costs, calculating the actual costs and the pricing would have just been unsustainable.”

The decision impacts about 173,000 insurance holders, most of which Deering said are in the Chicago area.

Deering said insurance holders should check to see if a physician or doctor falls under the current network. Even if your hospital is included in the new PPO plan, he said it doesn’t mean all practitioners at the hospital are included.

“For the most part, hospitals in Illinois do not have fully employed medical staff, so most of them are independent physicians that have privileges at certain hospitals,” Deering said. “So it’s always important to check what your doctor takes in terms of health care coverage.”

Deering said you can see which hospitals are included in the Blue Choice Preferred PPO plan by using the “provider finder” tool on the Blue Cross Blue Shield Illinois website. He said coverage is available in about 125 hospitals in all 102 counties in Illinois. He added anyone affected by the Broad PPO plan elimination who now wants to find a new insurance provider can take advantage of a special enrollment period granted by the state of Illinois that lasts until the end of February.