Health Insurance Blog

JD Power & Associates ranked Humana the top rated health plan in Texas for 2009, in overall customer experience.  In addition to being rated as the top health plan in Texas, The Humana health plan that operates in Texas was rated as being among the best in the nation ( 5 out of 5 stars).

Other private health plans that faired well included CIGNA & Aetna who each received 4 of 5 stars, which denotes them as being better than most.

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas was rated as below average, one of the few Blue Cross Blue Shield member health plans that did not fair well in the JD Power survey.  BCBSTX was rated below average.

More information about Texas health insurance.

According to the article “Don’t forget rural issues when revamping health care system” from PrairieStar.com, the health care debate is a big issue for our American farmers.  Rural health care is an issue that has been around for a long time and needs attention now more than ever. 

Many farm families have one spouse working in town to provide health insurance for the family, while the other works on the farm.  If both spouses work on the farm they have the option to purchase individual health insurance, or they may be fortunate enough to belong to a cooperative that has a health insurance plan for them to participate in. 

Often farmers have high deductibles and forego preventative care to save money.  They hope for the best that nothing will seriously go wrong with their health.  But this is a huge risk as many health risk factors go undetected by the patient.  And agriculture is an occupation where accidents happen and medical attention is often crucial.  Rural hospitals are closing at high rates meaning that farmers have to travel even farther to receive medical care.  Ambulance services also are facing staffing issues. 

According to National Rural Health Association, one of the reasons for rural hospitals closing is Medicare reimbursement.  The organization claims they are paid back much slower than urban areas in America causing for financial difficulties.  Also, doctors are leaving to seek higher paying jobs in urban towns contributing to hospital closings.  Health insurance rates are increasing more and more every year and  Congress may be missing a very large part of the health care debate if they don’t pay attention to the issue of rural health care.  It is a concern that has been around for decades and it’s time it be addressed for our American farmers.

According to the article, “Blue Cross requiring psychiatrists to get prior authorization before treating patients” by Liz Freeman on naplesnews.com, Blue Cross Blue Shield health insurance of Florida implemented a new rule taking effect this fall which will require psychiatrists to get authorization before treating patients in their office or out patient locations.

Blue Cross sent letters to psychiatrists which outline the new rule that goes into effect on Oct 3.  A contract amendment must by signed by the mental-health providers by June 24 if they accept Blue Cross Insurance.  The pre-authorization will be required to treat patients for office based visits, inpatient admissions, and for partial psychiatric and substance abuse care.  Emergency visits are covered but the provider will need to request authorization.  This is all outlined in the notice from Blue Cross.

Blue Cross officials state the new authorization rule is partly because of the Mental Health Parity Act of 2008 which intends to end inequity between medical treatment and mental health care for plans with 50 or more employees.  The David Lawrence Center, a private nonprofit mental health center in Golden Gate, Florida, believes its expenses may rise with the new rule, but their patients will not face any fee increases and they will not turn anyone away because they have Blue Cross.

J.D. Power & Associates rated Health Alliance Plan (HAP) as the top health plan in Michigan for 2009.  Michigan is one of the few “regions” in this study of well over 100 health insurance companies from coast-to-coast, where a Blue Cross and Blue Shield health plan was not recognized as being the top plan.

Health Alliance Plan of Michigan was selected as the top health plan in Michigan and among the top plans in the nation in terms of overall customer experience.

Both, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan and Priority Health were rated as average when compared to the 100+ health plans included in the study and Aetna was rated as below average.

More information about Michigan health insurance.

According to the article “Who Gets Employer-Based Health Insurance” by Catherine Rampell in the NYTimes Economix, an important issue of the health insurance debate going on in Washington DC is what to do with employer-based health insurance.  Only in the US does losing your job translate to possibly losing your health insurance coverage.  That’s why individual health insurance is sometimes a better option.  That’s also one of the reasons why the government is looking towards a new health plan.

In the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation report on health benefits, not all American companies offer health insurance to its employees.  Often times, very small companies cannot afford to offer this benefit.  Of the companies that do offer the benefit, they only pay for a portion of the cost, while the rest is taken out of the employee’s paycheck each pay period.  A few do offer to cover the whole cost, but not many.

Many Americans are very comfortable with the employer-based health insurance option and worry about it going away.  This has lead Congress to consider not eliminating it altogether. 

J.D. Powers & Associates rated the top private health plans in the heartland states (Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota), and the results were as follows.

Similar to many of the other 17 regions in the JD Power Survey, a Blue Cross Blue Shield health plan took top honors.

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Nebraska was named the top health plan in this region based on overall customer experience and among the best in the nation.

Three other Blue Cross plans were rated as “better than most”  (4 stars out of 5 in overall experience):  BCBS Kansas, Wellmark BCBS Iowa, and BCBS Kansas City.

Health plans Aetna, CIGNA, UnitedHealthCare, and Coventry Healthcare were rated as being below average.

More information about health insurance in the heartland states:  Nebraska health insurance, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, North Dakota, South Dakota

The state of Florida was not included in the Southeast region when J.D. Powers ranked the top health plans in the Southeast, in their rating of the top health plans in 17 distinct regions, Florida is its own region.  That being said, J.D. Power and Associates rated Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida as the top rated health plan in Florida.

BCBSFL was rated as being among the best health plans in the country, as was Humana, coming in just behind the Florida Blue Cross Blue Shield plan.

Other Florida health plans that were rated as part of this study included UnitedHealthCare, CIGNA, and Aetna.  UnitedHealthCare was given 4 stars out of 5 in overall experience (better than most) while CIGNA & Aetna were given 2 stars, a below average rating.

More about Florida health insurance.

The article “Individual Health Insurance Quotes Better Than COBRA” from TransWorldNews has some great information about choosing between individual health insurance and COBRA.  If you have lost your health insurance through your employer because of cut backs or job loss then you have the choice to shop around for your own individual health insurance policy or go through the COBRA option from your employer.  It can be a tough decision.

COBRA will cover you if you lose your job by allowing you to keep the employer sponsored health insurance for up to 18 months and 9 out of the 18 mos will be at a discounted rate of 65%.  The average health care premium in the US is reaching upwards of $1000 a month so the discount can help, but still may make the cost out of your price range.  That’s when shopping around for health insurance quotes may pay off.  Individual plans are often less expensive and they are customized to meet your individual needs. 

Most consumers to do not realize the actual cost of health insurance since their employer often pays for a large chunk of it.  The sticker shock is often enough to cause some stress once you start shopping around.  It can be overwhelming so obtaining a health insurance broker may help.  The most important thing is to ensure there is no lapse in your health insurance because that can cause hefty bills if something unfortunately happened to you during that uninsured window.

June 1, CIGNA began offering individual health insurance plans in Connecticut.  Their portfolio of health plans for CT residents include open access managed care plans and high-deductible health plans that are HSA eligible.  Until this recent product launch, CIGNA had only offered health insurance to mid to large employer groups in Connecticut.

In addition to offering health plans for individuals in Connecticut, CIGNA also offers individual health plans in Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Tennessee & Texas.

More information about Connecticut health insurance.

According to the article “Health Insurance Outpaces Pay Hikes” by Martha Stoddard from Omaha.com, the increasing Nebraska health insurance premiums are outpacing wage increases.  This makes paying for health insurance more and more difficult and potentially out of reach according to a report released this week.

The report was released by The Nebraska Appleseed Center for Law in the Public Interest as well as Health Care for America Now.  It was part of a national support for health care reform.  There will also be a rally and lobbying effort in Washington DC. 

The report also cites that a recent article in the American Journal of Medicine stated that 62% of bankruptcies in the US are due to out of control medical bills.  There were 6,447 non business bankruptcies last year in NE.  It didn’t state how many of these were due to inadequate health insurance, but scary to think that a lot of them were.  This information is a large part of the argument that reform is needed, and it is needed soon.