Health Insurance Blog

According to the article “Obama Selects Alabama Doctor as Surgeon General” by Michael D. Shear in the Washington Post, President Obama has chosen Regina Benjamin to be the next Surgeon General.  Benjamin is a family physician from Alabama with a wide range of experience.

Benjamin is most well known for her efforts to rebuild her area after Hurricane Katrina.  She founded the Bayou La Rural Health Clinic back in 1990.  She is the first black woman to be the head of the State of Alabama Medical Association and was also the dean for rural health at the University of South Alabama College of Medicine.

Obama made this announcement at a Rose Garden event July 13th where he also discussed concerns over health insurance and health care reform.  Obama believes Benjamin is well prepared to face the challenges this debate brings.  The President’s first choice was CNN’s Sanjay Gupta, but he pulled out of the running a few months ago to spend more time with family.

According to the article “Sen. Chuck Schumer report: Rise in health insurance costs is sickening for New Yorkers” by Rachel Monahan on nydailynews.com, New York health insurance costs are up 81% since 2000.  New Yorkers with health insurance are spending on average one out of every ten dollars on health care costs. 

This information comes from a report by Senator Chuck Schumer D-NY who is pushing Congress towards Obama’s health care reform plan.  Schumer states the skyrocketing costs of New York health insurance not only hurts people who buy their own insurance, but also hurts companies who are trying to offer health insurance as a benefit.  They can’t hire as many employees, they make layoffs and make cuts on the health insurance benefits they offer. 

Schumer revealed that 3.5 million New Yorkers pay over 10% of their income for health care despite insurance.  Insurance costs have risen faster than medical care according to Schumer.  He believes there is limited competition in the industry causing the high rises in group and individual health insurance rates.  He said the solution lies in Obama’s plan for a public health insurance plan to compete with private health insurance companies.

The article “Suddenly Health Insurance Reform Is Not Affordable” by Armen Hareyan on emaxhealth.com discusses some concerns over how Congress plans on paying for the proposed health insurance reform.  Providing affordable health insurance to the public is going to require obtaining funds from somewhere…but where?

Already millions of Americans cannot afford the health insurance quotes they receive and the main goal of the reform is to make sure as many Americans have reasonable access to health care as possible.  The latest plan in the House on health insurance reform is to give a surtax on high income families. It would apply to individuals with an income of over $200,000 and couples over $250,000.  They approximate that this type of surtax will affect 2.4% of taxpayers.  It will raise about $375 billion in the next 10 years, which is projected to assist in the cost of health care substantially.  Connecticut, Washington DC, Massachusetts and New Jersey will feel the effects of the surtax the most according to the article.

Currently, our system is not working for over 46 million Americans and a change is needed.  Congress will continue to hash out how to solve the problem of health insurance over the next few months and it will be very interesting to see what they come up with. 

When JD Power & Associates rated the top health plans in Pennsylvania, they also included Delaware in a region which included both Pennsylvania & Delaware.  However, of the eleven private health insurance companies that were included in the study and part of this region, eight of them where Pennsylvania health plans, and the three that weren’t exclusively Pennsylvania plans (Aetna, CIGNA, and UnitedHealthCare) did not factor into consideration among the top plans and were all rated as being below average in overall experience.

According to the study, the top health insurance plan in Pennsylvania was Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield, which was also judged to be one of the best the nation has to offer.  Finishing a close second to Highmark BCBS, was another Highmark inc. company and Blue Cross Blue Shield Licensee Highmark Blue Shield.

Highmark BCBS serves health insurance customers in Western Pennsylvania, while Highmark Blue Shield serves Central PA.

Other Pennsylvania health plans that fared particularly well in the study include Capital BlueCross and Geisinger Health Plan, both were rated above average.

On BlueCross BlueShield of Illinois’ website they have details on a new Illinois health insurance law that went into effect on June 1st.  The Young Adult Dependent Coverage Law states that if you have dependents meeting certain criteria  you may be able to extend their coverage under your current health insurance policy.

Some eligibility requirements for non-military dependents include:

1. Must be under the age of 26
2. Unmarried
3. Do not have to be enrolled as a full time student

Some eligibility requirements for military veteran dependents:

1. Must be under the age of 30
2. Unmarried
3. Do not have to be enrolled as a full time student
4. Illinois resident
5. Must receive a discharge other than dishonorable

Dependent coverage change doesn’t apply to everyone.  Additional eligibility requirements may apply.  If you have questions contact BCBSIL if you are a member.  If you have coverage under your employer’s health plan, contact your group administrator.

Ohio has a vested interest in what occurs in Congress as health care reform is figured out.  According to Policy Matters Ohio, over 1 million Ohioans do not have Ohio health insurance.  This is about 11% of those under 65 in Ohio.  This is a huge percent and warrants concern. 

The article “In Congress, political scrapping has just begun” by Jessica Wehrman in the Dayton Daily News, discusses the challenges Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio faces as he sits on the Senate Health, Environment, Labor and Pensions Committee.  It’s been announced that committee Democrats have planned out a deal.  It would include both a public option as well as employer responsibility options.  Those provisions would require employers who could not offer health insurance to at least pay for a portion of the cost for employees to use the public plan.

Brown proposed that the measure would provide competition that would spur both the public and private insurance options to succeed.  He also said in many cases the public option would be available where a private option hasn’t been.

In JD Power & associates 2009 rankings of the top health plans in Ohio, Medical Mutual took top honors.  Based on JD Power surveys, Medical Mutual of Ohio is among the best health plans in the country.

Humana is the 2nd best health plan in Ohio according to this study of well over 100 health plans nationally, and also among the best in the country.  Other Ohio health plans that were rated include:  Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield & Aetna which were both rated as average, and CIGNA & UnitedHealthCare which were rated as below average.

More information about Ohio health insurance.

US News Top Ohio Health Plans

The Health First Foundation is going to host the 8th annual Grape Escape on October 24th according to Health First’s website.  This event is put on each year to raise money for Intra Cardiac Echocardiography (ICE). 

This year’s food and wine-tasting events at Seasons 52 in Orlando features culinary delights created by the internationally recognized Executive Chef Clifford Pleau.  Proceeds from the evening will go to Health First Cardiac Services.

Highlights of the Grape Escape include a multi-course meal served with distinctive wine from the large wine cellar.  Wines, fine art, jewelry and vacation packages will be auctioned off at the live auction.  Dick Beagley is heading up the Health First Foundation volunteer committee that is organizing this year’s event, which is sure to be spectacular.  Health First Insurance is a subsidiary of HealthFirst Inc,  a non-profit health care system that serves Florida’s Space Coast.

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.