Open enrollment health insurance plans are the plan of last resort for people who cannot qualify for health insurance because of illness, health history or high risk lifestyle. Blue Cross-Blue Shield is the most widely known open enrollment plan. The plans are run by not-for-profit corporations. By law, they must accept everyone who applies. As a result, they can be enormously expensive, because of the greater risk level of the group insured. These plans are not really insurance at all, but a means of pre-paying for medical expenses that, for their members, are almost certain to occur.
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