Health Insurance Blog

Humana recently announced the introduction of their portfiolio of individual health insurance plans for Nevada residents, called HumanaOne.  The HumanaOne portfolio of individual health insurance plans has been made available to 25 other US states since 2007 and has been very well received.

The 25 states where HumanaOne has been previously made available include Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia and Wisconsin.

HumanaOne health plans are designed for

1) self-employed entrepreneurs

2) small business employees who aren’t provided employer sponsored coverage

3) part time workers,

4) college students and

5) early retirees

HumanaOne health plans are available through insurance agents and brokers, as well as directly to consumers online or by phone.

Bloomberg.com reports that premiums for medicare drug coverage will rise more than 20% on average from 2008 to 2009.  This expected rate increase is on the heals of another 20%+ rate increase from 2007 to 2008.

Among the largest medicare drug plans, AARPs MedicareRx is increasing rates by 8% while Humana’s PDP Enhanced plan is raising premiums by 64%.

According to health insurance companies such as Humana, the volatility in premiums charged for these drug plans can be blamed on inaccurate forecasting of drug costs.  Humana’s PDP plan’s premiums have quadrupled since its inception in 2006.  While most senior citizens tend to stick with the same drug plan that they are already enrolled in, the volatility in prices has made it important for seniors to shop around for the best rate.  For 2009 there are nearly 1,700 government approved prescription drug plans, and every Medicare enrollee in the country (except for Alaska) has a plan available to them at a monthly cost of less than $20 per month.

Nationally, about 16 million Americans enroll in a standalone medicare drug plan such as AARPs MedicareRX, as opposed to obtaining drug coverage through a comprehensive health care plan such as Medicare Advantage.

According to Factcheck.org, both presidential candidates made misleading statements and untruths while discussing their health care reform proposals last night.

Senator Obama’s Misleading Statements

Senator Obama said his health care plan would lower health insurance premiums by up to $2,500 a year. Experts see little evidence that savings of this magnitude if at all would materialize.

Senator McCain’s Misleading Statements

Like Senator Obama, McCain misstated facts about his health care plan as well, saying he’d give a $5,000 tax credit to “every American.” His plan actually would provide only $2,500 per individual, or $5,000 for couples and families.

Senator McCain also made misleading comments about Obama’s health care plan, claiming it would levy fines on “small businesses” that fail to provide health insurance coverage to their employees. In reality, Obama’s health care plan would fine large companies but exempts “small businesses.” from the requirement.

CIGNA has announced they will offer their Medicare Advantage products to an additional 15 states in an effort to grow its business by targeting the senior market (age 65+).   In addition to growing their state footprint substantially from 13 states to 28 states, the senior health plans will expand their coverage within the states in which they already do business, covering more counties.   Some of the larger states that will be added to CIGNAs new Medicare Advantage service area inlcude California, Ohio, Florida, Illinois, and Massachusetts.

Medicare Advantage plans include Medicare HMOs, PPOs, Private Fee-For-Service Plans and Medicare Special Needs Plans.

For additional resources about Medicare Advantage plans, and other Medicare options, you can visit http://www.medicare.gov/choices/advantage.asp.

A Calgary Canada based health care company called Acure Health Corp. has been selling a health insurance policy called wait-time insurance to Canadians for several years now, and it has been under the radar until recently when the British Columbia began offering the policy to its 800,000 members.

Wait time insurance esentially allows Canadians who are facing excessively long waits for a surgery or procedure, to obtain health care through private clinics in the United States.

Acure started selling the wait-time insurance plans as part of small group insurance plans in Alberta about 3 years ago, and has since expanded to B.C., Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario, as well as to individuals through private insurance brokers.

monthly premiums for the wait-time insurance plans above range from $100 to $200 per month, and they cover 135 medical conditions and hundreds of diagnostic tests.  In order to utilize care from one of these plans, the member must be on a wait list of more than 45 days.

The Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association (BCBSA) has released a report entitled The Pathway to Covering America: Ensuring Quality, Value, and Access.

In this report, the BCBSA expresses some of their concerns regarding the state of the health insurance industry as well as some recommendations about how they can be addressed leading to an health care system with improved quality, value and access for all Americans.

The recommendations are broken down into five initiatives:

1) Encourage Research on What Works.

2) Changing Incentives to Promote Better Care.

3) Empower Consumers & Providers

4) Promote Health and Wellness

5) Foster Public-Private Coverage Solutions

The 5th initiative is the one that is most pertinent and directly related to the way the health insurance marketplace works today, and in summary involves health insurance companies creating health coverage options that can address the diverse health care needs of the uninsured population and ensuring that nobody is left without a health care plan due to cost or other reasons.

More information about Blue Cross Blue Shield member health plans

Merrill Matthews, executive director of the Council for Affordable Health Insurance (CAHI), recently penned an article supporting legislation sponsored by Arizona’s John Shadegg. Known as the Health Care Choice Act.  The legislation is backed by Senator McCain and essentially would allow residents of Massachusetts for example to purchase a Colorado health insurance plan if they thought it would better fit their needs.  The thought behind this policy is that there would be more competition in local markets, which would keep health insurance premiums in check, in addition a health insurance shopper could avoid state mandates that require certian benefits that the consumer has no interest in and doesn’t want to pay for.

According to the article;

1) Many people purchase individual health insurance and subsequently end up moving across state lines and maintaining their individual health plan,

2) Many small businesses who offer health insurance through state-regulated health insurers have employees who live in other states, and

3) Many college students stay on their parents health plan, and go to a university in a different state.

The three interstate health coverage situations mentioned above have led to almost no documented health coverage or health care issues.  Despite this fact, Matthews speculates that the reason Obama is against a policy such as The Health Care Choice Act, is that:

1) Obama doesn’t believe a true “market” can work in health insurance and he believes it is necessary for the government to make sure patients are getting the care and coverage the government thinks is appropriate and what the government considers affordable health insurance.

2) Obama preferres benefit-rich health insurance policies that cover virtually everything, but are also very expensive.  His plan to address health insurance affordability is to put in place price controls and regulations on health insurance companies and drug companies, and have taxpayers to subsidize the rest.

A health insurance marketplace that leans towards deregulation resulting from the Health Care Choice Act seems like it would accomplish much in terms of providing health insurance consumers with more options, and affordable prices.  However this plan, not any other health care reform plan will solve the all health care problems for the 40+ million uninsured Americans in the country.  That being said, it seems like the best option at this early juncture.