Walgreens, Blue Cross team up for health care reform outreach

With open enrollment for health insurance less than three months away, the nation's largest drug store chain and one of the country's largest insurance groups launched a national educational campaign on the health care overhaul law in an effort to bring consumers up to speed on the coverage they'll soon be required to carry.

Deerfield-based Walgreen Co. and the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, an umbrella group for state-based Blue Cross plans across the country, launched this week a new website, learnaboutreform.com, that includes basic information on what the new health care law means for consumers.

The association comprises 38 state and local health plans, including four owned by Chicago-based Health Care Service Corp., parent of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois, which launched a separate educational campaign in April.

The campaign, the largest effort by any entity to promote the health care law and encourage people to use state-based insurance marketplaces to shop for health coverage, also will include in-store advertising and informational brochures aimed at reaching a wide segment of consumers who will be newly eligible for government subsidies to buy health insurance.

Walgreen and Blue Cross didn't disclose financial terms of the partnership.

Millions of Americans can begin signing up for subsidized health insurance in Oct. 1, the first major step in kicking off the most ambitious overhaul in the nation's health care system in a generation.

With many of those eligible for the new benefits unaware of basic things such as how to access a primary care doctor, helping them understand the nuances of the highly complex overhaul and its effect on them is crucial for insurers and drug store operators, which are in competition for millions of potential new customers.

The campaign comes as several states and the federal government have not unleashed hundreds of millions of dollars worth of advertising and outreach to educate consumers on the plan, leaving many unaware of the benefits they may be eligible to receive starting in 2014 or the penalties they'll pay if they don't get coverage.

'There's a lot of confusion, a lot of questions, and it'll take a tremendous, collaborative effort to make sure people have the information they need to make informed choices,' said Brad Fluegel, Walgreens senior vice president and chief strategy officer.

In Illinois, nearly 1 million residents will be eligible for subsidized health insurance in 2014, though state officials expect only about half of them to sign up.

The state's largest insurer in terms of market share, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois, launched its educational campaign in April. The insurer partnered with community groups, schools, churches and other organizations to make inroads into populations most likely to qualify for the benefits, including low-income and immigrant households, many of whom may never have had health coverage.

Blue Cross plans in other states have begun similar efforts.

Bringing Walgreen into the fold -- the nation's largest pharmacy chain with more than 8,500 stores in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico -- presents an opportunity to reach an ever broader segment of potential beneficiaries.

'Blue Plans have been working hard to help consumers navigate this new environment and the coverage options that are available to them,' said Maureen Sullivan, the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association's senior vice president of strategic services and chief strategy officer. 'Our partnership with Walgreens is another example of our commitment to ensuring that all Americans have the tools they need to understand these changes and access affordable health insurance coverage that meets their needs.'

pfrost@tribune.com | Twitter: @peterfrost