Pennsylvania Health & Wellness Inc., a unit of publicly traded Centene Corp. of St. Louis, is jumping into the Affordable Care Act fray by offering five HMO plans in Montgomery County as well as Bucks and Philadelphia counties. Geisinger Health Plan, owned by the nonprofit Geisinger Health System of Danville, Pa., is offering seven HMO and preferred-provider plans in those three counties, plus Chester and Delaware Counties.

So, after two years as the sole health insurance provider on the Affordable Care Act market in Southeastern Pennsylvania, Independence Health Group faces new competition next year, according to preliminary rate filings published Monday by the Pennsylvania Department of Insurance, writes Harold Brubaker on philly.com

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Geisinger and Centene said it was too early for them to provide any information on their networks of doctors and hospitals that consumers will be able to use under their insurance plans.

“We feel confident that there are some provider organizations and health-care systems in the Philadelphia market that are aligned with our values,” said Chis Fanning, chief sales and marketing officer at Geisinger, which sells insurance in 43 counties, not counting the five in the Philadelphia region. It is not expanding in other parts of the state next year.

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