Health Insurance Blog

For many American families, COBRA coverage is still too expensive even with the current COBRA subsidy which is temporarily in place.  The COBRA subsidy program pays 65% of the monthly premiums for up to 15 months, but still can require a substantial monthly expense, as the average family of four still pays on average $389 per month even with the subsidy.

A recent report by eHealthinsurance.com found that in twenty states, families could save $600 per year ($50/mo) by purchasing a family health insurance plan as oppose to opting for the COBRA coverage.  Even with the subsidy!

The twenty states that were found to offer the affordable health insurance identified in the report include:  Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Utah, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.

According to the article “Advantage Plan Cancellation: What To Do” found on TucsonCitizen.com, you have two options in the case that your Medicare Advantage Plan is cancelled.  It’s important to understand those options to the best of your ability so you aren’t left without coverage for any period of time.

The first option is to change to another Advantage Plan as quickly as possible.  The other option is to return to a Medicare Plan and get a Medicare Supplement along with it.  This is called “guaranteed issue” and it’s a great option for many.  Finding individual health insurance can be challenging for anyone, but when your Medicare Advantage Plan is cancelled, you don’t want to be left scrambling.

In order to take advantage of “guaranteed issue” a few requirements must be met.  A copy of the cancellation letter from the company canceling the Medicare Advantage Plan must be submitted along with the Medicare Supplement application.  It’s important to ensure the appropriate boxes on the application are checked to show that one would be eligible for “guaranteed issue”.

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona’s (BCBSAZ) is the next health insurance company that we will discuss in this continuing series of posts related to efforts by Blue Cross Blue Shield member health plans to undertake programs designed to increase access to affordable health insurance for the uninsured.

BCBSAZ launched a program called BlueSolutions which enables small businesses with fewer than 50 employees to offer low-premium, high-deductible health coverage to their workers.  BlueSolutions covers a broad range of healthcare services such as urgent care and maternity care, with affordable co-pays for in-network physician visits and generic prescriptions.

The small business’ served by BlueSolutions were previously unable to offer any type of health insurance to their employees.

More information about Arizona health insurance.

According to J.D. Power and Associates’ 2009 Health Plan Ratings, BlueCross BlueShield of Arizona was the top rated private health plan in the Arizona/Utah region.  The ratings are based on

1. Health coverage and benefits
2. Provider choice
3. Health information and communication
4. Health insurance claims processing
5. Statements
6. Customer service, and
   
7. Approval processes

SelectHealth also faired very well in the JD Power survey for this region.

More information about Arizona health insurance & Utah health insurance

According to Angela Gonzales in the Phoenix Business Journal, LifeWise Health Plan has decided to exit the Arizona health insurance market. The insurer stated that the plan did not have enough enrollees to turn a profit. LifeWise launched its Arizona plans in 2004.

Fortunately, policyholders won’t have to worry about having developed conditions that would prevent them from finding affordable individual health insurance on the open market. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona has agreed to take all former LifeWise customers that were previously healthy and offer them a plan of similar coverage and cost, even if they developed a health condition after buying the initial policy. In order to take advantage of this offer, employer-sp, Angela onsored health insurance groups must switch to BCBSAZ plans by May; individuals have until September to make the switch.

About 16,000 Arizona policyholders in total will be affected by this closure, Angela claims.

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Arizona (BCBSAZ) has annouced that they are extending their discounts for early enrollment discounts for their portfolio of Medicare Supplement Plans.

BCBSAZ’s discount program extensions increase the duration of the Medicare Supplement discounts from 5 to 10 years and raises the eligibilty age from 65 1/2 to 67 years old.  For example:

If an eligible senior enrolls in a BCBSAZ Medicare Supplement Plan at age 65 they will receive a 32% discount on the first year of premiums, a 28.8% discount on the first year of premiums for enrollment at age 66, and a 25.6% discount applicable to the first year of premiums for enrollment at age 67.

In addition, the discount amount decreases by 3.2% each year until the person reaches age 75 so long as the person is continuously enrolled in the plan.

The savings calculations are a bit confusing, but the net-net of it is,  seniors tend to stay with their health plans for a long period of time, so BCBSAZ is offering an innovative incentive to get them enrolled in their Medicare Supplement plans from the beginning of Medicare eligibility.

According to the Phoenix Business Journal, seven Arizona health insurance companies are working together to create the Arizona Association of Health Plans Inc.

The Seven health plans include:

• Arizona Physician’s IPA
• Mercy Care Plan
• Care1st Arizona
• University Family Care
• Phoenix Health Plan
• SCAN Long Term Care
• Health Choice AZ

The Association hopes to add more commercial health insurance carriers to their membership as they strive to work with AHCCCS administration as well as legislators, government agencies and health care providers to improve the quality, availability and cost of health care delivery in Arizona.

The 2008 presidential election is now in he books, but there are still a number of states that have health care reform initiatives with unknown results.

A rundown of pending and decided state health care initiatives is as follows:

• Arizona’s Proposition 101 would prohibit the passage of any law that would prohibit an individual from having the freedom to purchase a family health plan from any private health insurer offering health insurance in Arizona.
• In Wisconsin, legislation appeared to be on the verge of passing that would ensure universal coverage (in the 20+ cities and counties for which it appeared on the ballot)
• South Carolina voted down a amendment to allow state and local governments to invest funds in the stock market funds that are earmarked for retired public employee health benefits.
• Montana voters approved a measure expanding their children’s health insurance program, to increase the household income threshold to $55,000.

President elect Barack Obama vowed while compaining to make sweeping changes to the counties health care system that would make it more affordable and available to Americans.   He will soon be under pressure to begin doing just that, and it will be interesting to see quickly and sharply these changes will take place.

There has been a considerable amount of discussion surrounding the health care proposals from presidential candidates Obama & McCain, however state-level health care plans haven’t received much attention.

Arizona in particular has a health care initiative on the ballot called Arizona Proposition 101.  If this proposition were to pass, the state of Arizona would be blocked from enacting a universal health care plan.  Essentially it would block Arizona from moving towards a health care platform like the one that is currently in place in Massachusetts, which requires all residents to purchase health insurance or pay a fine.  In addition, if Proposition 101 passes it will serve as a basis for a legal challenge should the federal government move towards a national health insurance mandate.

More information about health insurance in Arizona.

Last week, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Arizona (BCBSAZ) announced the launch of 5 new Arizona individual health insurance plans .  The new plans deliver a wide range of co-insurance and deductible levels and can save customers as much as 40% from previous health insurance options.

The new individual health insurance plans offered by BCBSAZ are:

BlueOptimum - A PPO that features co-pays for many services and the broadest level of health coverage among the new plans introduced last week.

BlueValue - A PPO that features a mix of co-pay and co-insurance with lower monthly premiums than Blue Optimum.

BlueEssential - An ultra affordable PPO with basic coverage and a $1,000 cap on preventive care.

BluePortfolio - A high deductible health plan (PPO) that can be paired with a Health Savings Account (HSA).

BlueSecure and BlueSecure Plus -HMO plans.