Health Insurance Blog

According to the PRWeb article through medicaresupplementplans.com entitled “California Health Insurance Assistance Program Awarded 2009 Grant Funding”, California health insurance assistance programs are expected to receive about $3 million in grants to help Medicare beneficiaries in need of information on health insurance topics.

This is an ongoing effort to better assist these citizens who are often lacking comprehensive and accurate information about their health care options.  The funds being used are part of a $35.8 million grant from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.  The grants to California health insurance assistance programs are part of the 1st installment of funding that began in April ‘09 and will end in March ‘10.

Seniors often underestimate how time consuming researching and understanding their benefits can be.  And sometimes it gets really complicated.  These funds will support programs designed to make this process for them a little easier.  The assistance is personalized and local while providing a wide range of health insurance information best suited to each individual.

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida Plans to sell individual health insurance plans via storefront on a larger scale in the future. BCBSFL who has had an operational health insurance storefront in Pembroke Pines for more than a year plans to expand to five to eight stores across the state.

Individual health insurance have become much more popular health insurance alternatives as the recession has cost thousands their employer sponsored health coverage.

• Aetna reports that their individual health insurance sales in Florida are up 22% over the past 6 months.
• BCBS Florida’s individual health insurance “requests” are up 15% over the past 8 months.

While some say that individual health plans are the least cost effective for the customer because of high administrative costs, they can be quite effective and inexpensive for the young and healthy in particular.

Other similar health insurance storefronts in Florida include an AvMed store in Hollywood aimed at Medicare Seniors, and about a dozen Humana stores across the state.

More about Florida health insurance.

Miami-Dade county in Florida has teamed up with Blue Cross Blue Shield health insurance of Florida for a very unique partnership according to the article “Dade, Blue Cross offer health plan” by John Dorschner on miamiherald.com.  Currently there are around 600,000 uninsured in Miami-Dade county and leaders felt something needed to be done to fix this. 

Janet Perkins with the Office of Countywide Healthcare Planning believes this is a cutting edge program for Florida health insurance and a national model.  It’s called Miami-Dade Blue and it’s a revolutionary option to offer affordable health insurance to the uninsured.  This special health insurance would cost a healthy 35 year old man around $100 which is extremely low.  This concept was first a vision of Commissioner Joe Martinez from about 5 years ago.  He said it’s been a long, hard road, but he’s truly excited and good things can come from this plan. 

There are some concerns over the benefits of the program.  Some insurance brokers believe the benefits may not be as good as most popular plans which may cause a problem as policyholders file claims.  One of the major challenges was getting providers to take discounted prices.  Approximately 1,500 doctors have agreed to be included in the Miami-Dade Blue network which is a great start in the right direction.

According to the article “NC high-risk pool an option for many seeking health insurance” by Vicky Eckenrode on starnewsonline.com, there is a new state program to cover high risk applicants to ensure North Carolina health insurance is made available to them.

In 2007, state legislators started the Inclusive Health program.  It’s also known as the North Carolina Health Insurance Risk-Pool and it’s intended to assist people who are struggling to get covered because the industry considers them high risk.  Michael Keough, the program’s executive director says that this is an alternative mechanism to provide affordable health insurance to those high risk applicants.  Enrollment began in January and is up to about 1,600 covered now. 

State risk pools have been in existence for decades.  North Carolina is the 35th state to start this type of program.  The health insurance premiums for Inclusive Health are capped at 175% of the standard risk rate.  In other words, it tops out at 75% more than what a healthy person would pay for a similar policy.  The average age for this program is 50 years old.  This is a great option for many as Congress continues to figure out the health care reform debate.

Workers who lose their jobs and enroll in Government sponsored COBRA coverage will now be able to maintain that health insurance coverage indefinitely until they find replacement coverage ( as long as they continue to pay the monthly premiums).

Previously health coverage via COBRA was only available for a maximum of 18 months after they lose their jobs.

The provision which is not truly “law” yet,  was authored by California Democratic Congresswoman Susan Davis and would become law if the full House and Senate allow it to stay in the underlying health overhaul bill and pass that legislation.

Four years ago the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) started to require universities to make their athletes have health insurance coverage before competing in sporting events.  A mistake was made as the Association did not set forth clear standards for the coverage leaving the students to decide for themselves what they needed.  This is all according to the article “College Athletes Stuck With the Bill After Injuries” by Kristina Peterson on nytimes.com. 

Some colleges accept a lot of responsibility for medical claims but others assume none according to a review of public documents.  Many university officials say they definitely inform their students about the limits of certain health insurance options, but the situation has left students and families frustrated and very confused as many have had to take on large and unexpected medical bills. 

Many athletes have health insurance through their parents but often times the coverage does not include injuries due to varsity sports.  This is where it gets tricky.  They need additional coverage but are unsure where to begin and often do not get enough coverage and are left with mountains of debt.  One solution is to require universities to offer quality coverage to all of their varsity athletes, but this is suspected to put too much of a burden on schools financially.  Because of this the NCAA is unlikely to require that sort of mandate anytime soon.

Families USA released a research study called “The Clock Is Ticking: More Americans Losing Health Coverage”.  The report illustrates on a state-by-state basis how many people are projected to lose health coverage by the end of 2010.

Key findings of the report include that Nationally, more that 44,000 people are losing health coverage each week, nearly 200,000 each month, and about 2.3 Million each year.  These stats truly illustrate the urgency of enacting health care reform.  Every month we delay an additional 200,000 people go uninsured!

According to the Families USA Report, the five states with the most rapidly growing uninsured population (in sheer numbers) by the end of 2010 include:

1. California - 995,200 CA residents are projected to lose health insurance coverage by end of 2010
2. Texas - 866,580
3. Florida - 556,070
4. New York - 385,750
5. Illinois - 258,600

In all 6.9 Million Americans are projected to lose there health insurance coverage by 2010, without health care reform, whether it be the adoption of a public health plan, an individual health insurance mandate, or othe reform proposals.

BlueCross BlueShield of Texas (BCBSTX) published a memo on their website that covers where they stand on the much talked about health care reform debate going on in Washington.  BCBSTX does believe strongly that health care reform is in fact needed and affordable health insurance should be available to all Americans. 

On the table currently is Obama’s plan to have a government run insurance plan to compete with private insurers.  BCBSTX believes a government run plan would eventually push out private insurers and eliminate the benefits of competition.  This could lead to a system where government controls access to health care as well as sets all payments.

BCBSTX supports a plan that would require health insurance companies to give coverage to all applicants.  They believe this will only work if every American is required by law to have health insurance.  They also support research to determine which medical advancements are most worth while determined by an independent entity.

For more information on where BCBSTX stands on the health care reform debate visit their website. 

Kaiser Health News has begun a series of articles analyzing health care reform advertisements sponsored by various organizations.  This series can be very helpful in helping the public interpret the ads, understand the validity of claims etc. and gainign a better understanding of how impending health care reform might affect them.

Kaiser Health News, is an unbiased affiliate of the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan health care policy-research organization that isn’t affiliated with Kaiser Permanente.

The first advertisement that was analyzed is one called “Health Reform Testimonials” and sponsored by Families USA in conjunction with Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA).

These ads are spawned from an unusual collaboration between a prominent liberal group and the prescription drug industry.  The Ads use heartrending vignettes of “real people” to press for affordable health insurance that is comprehensive in coverage. Yet some of the people profiled in the ads would likely not receive much relief under the main proposals that are pending in Congress.

For PhRMA, the ads are good public relations and good business for an industry with an image problem.

For Families USA, a relationship with the deep-pocketed PhRMA — one of the most powerful trade groups in Washington — gives the overhaul message extra reach.

Many states have state sponsored health insurance plans that are designed for “the working uninsured”.  Generally the monthly premiums of these plans are subsidized by the state and in order to qualify, applicants must have household income levels that don’t exceed 200% of federal poverty level, and being a resident of the state.  Each state has their own set of eligibility requirements.  For example in some states applicant may not have access to an employer sponsored health plan.

Some examples of these state sponsored plans for adults include:  The Healthy Indiana Plan, Insure Oklahoma, Washington Basic Health Plan, CoverTN, and BadgerCare.

Even if you don’t qualify for a state sponsored health insurance plan, because you make too much money or other reasons, there are many quality affordable health insurance plans available in each state.   You can compare plans online here at healthinsurancesort.com with no obligation.