Blue Shield of California announced Thursday that it plans to expand its Virtual Blue program, doubling program enrollment for members.
Beginning in January 2027, the benefit will be included in fully insured preferred provider organization (PPO) plans for employers with 101 to 3,000 employees, as well as for certain individual and family plans, the insurer said.
The expansion will allow an additional 200,000 mid-size employer PPO members and 60,000 individual and family plan members to utilize the program, increasing its total enrollment to more than 410,000 participants, executives say.
The virtual-first program, first launched in 2023 in collaboration with Accolade and TeleMed2U, has more than 150,000 members as of April. The program gives members access to a range of virtual health services at no additional cost, along with care from providers in Blue Shield’s PPO network.
The organization says the program’s utilization has delivered a 7% to 10% lower overall cost of care, with an average of $468 in employer savings per member annually. Moreover, emergency room visits have dropped by more than 10% among Virtual Blue members—with 60% of members saying they would have turned to costlier care, like the emergency room, without the plan.
Chief Marketing and Strategy Officer Jigar Shah told Fierce Healthcare that the expansion was driven by member feedback and data.
“People expect healthcare to be convenient and affordable, but they also expect it to work as a connected experience, not as a series of disconnected transactions,” Shah said. “Virtual Blue has shown us that when you make it easier for people to access care, you can also change how they utilize the entire healthcare system. That tells us there’s an opportunity to take what we’ve learned and bring it to more members, while continuing to evolve the model based on what works.”
Shah added Virtual Blue visits have seen “really high satisfaction rates” at “around 90%.”
“If someone starts with a virtual visit and then needs lab work, a specialist, or an in-person appointment, we want that journey to feel coordinated and connected,” Shah said. “Healthcare is often fragmented, and members are left to navigate the system on their own. Virtual Blue helps simplify that experience.”