Health Insurance Blog

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama has information about a great program on their website.  “Baby Yourself” is a unique prenatal wellness program which gives expectant mothers important information about infant care and health care during pregnancy.

On the BCBSAL website, it discusses the benefits of the program.  “Baby Yourself” offers all expectant mothers support and educational materials from a Blue Cross registered nurse.  The nurse is experienced in labor, delivery, and newborn care.  You will be assigned your own personal nurse who can be contacted with any questions or concerns.  Gifts and products are available to help support health habits as well as show the importance of understanding all the changes that come with being new parents. 

The program is available to all members and is free as part of their health insurance benefits through BCBSAL.  A video is available on their website entitled “Baby Yourself, A Prenatal Wellness Program” where you can learn more.  You can enroll either online or by telephone.  This is a great initiative by Blue Cross to help support often overwhelmed new mothers and their families.

Blue Cross Blue Shield Association (BCBSA) has an awards program called Blueworks which is a collaboration between BCBSA and the Harvard Medical School Department of Health Care Policy according to the Blue Cross Blue Shield website in their Newsroom.

The Blueworks program is in its 5th year and last week they recognized 6 Blue Cross Blue Shield companies with a total of 7 Blueworks Awards for innovative approaches to improving the quality of health care for comsumers. 

Harvard researchers evaluate and choose BCBS companies’ health care programs for recognition based on their innovation, and potential for replication.  BCBSA president and CEO, Scott P. Serota says that the winning programs are great examples of the work Blue Cross Blue Shield companies are doing in the community to improve health care.  They are providing consumers with valuable information needed to help make educated health care decisions. 

On Blue Cross Blue Shield’s website there is a news article entitled “New Census Report Underscores Need for Health Care Reform”.  It has a statement from President and Chief Executive Officer of Blue Cross Blue Shield Scott P. Serota.  The statement follows after the release of the report from the US Census Bureau that shows the number of uninsured Americans increased from 45.7 million in 2007 to 46.4 million in 2008. 

Serota points out that no one should have to worry about having quality, affordable health insurance.  He believes that 46 million uninsured is unacceptable.  It’s an important reminder of the critical need for health care reform.  According to Serota, we should enact bipartisan health care reform this year that will give health insurance coverage to everyone. 

Blue Cross Blue Shield companies support initiatives working towards this goal.  They want to build on the employer based system currently in place.  He says the high number of uninsured is partly because of the recession, but something still needs to be done now to fix this problem. 

Approximately 1 million Americans have been infected with the H1N1 virus, more commonly known as the swine flu, according to the article “Individual Health Insurance Could Provide Assistance for Swine Flu Vaccines” by Maggie Guo found on the Ethiopian Review. 

People who are covered by certain individual health insurance companies may have the swine flu vaccine paid for.  Anthem Blue Cross is covering their customers who carry vaccine coverage and America’s Health Insurance Plans says it will offer similar protections according to a St. Louis Post-Dispatch report.

Once the Food and Drug Administration approves treatment there will be roughly 160 million doses of innoculations according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  Clinical trials are currently in progress.  Across the country, cities are establishing free clinics to give vaccines.  There will be 100 centers in NYC alone in addition to a center at each elementary school.  Chicago and LA are following similar plans.

Blue Cross Blue Shield health insurance companies’ anti fraud investigations caused savings and recoveries of about $350 million for 2008 according to the article “Blue Cross And Blue Shield Companies’ Anti-Fraud Efforts Recover $350 Million In 2008″ found on BCBS’s website. 

According to data released from Blue Cross Blue Shield National Anti-Fraud Department, this is a 43% increase from 2007.  The number of cases opened increased by about 34% and closed cases increased by 43% from 2007 to 2008. 

Approximately 3% of all health care spending is lost to fraud each year according to The National Health Care Anti-Fraud Association.  This totals to about $68 billion in losses.  The total savings for all BCBS companies’ anti fraud units and Special Investigative Units was around $7 for every $1 spent on anti fraud efforts.  BCBS is a leader in detecting and following up with fraud according to Scott P. Serota, BCBSA president and CEO.

AskBlue is a consumer tool develop by the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association that helps individuals make decisions about the health insurance needs.  Essentially the tool helps consumers find individual health insurance plans that fits their needs that are offered by Blue Cross Blue Shield member health plans.

The tool is easy to use, after answering a few questions anonymously you will receive a summary that outlines health coverage option recommendations that will help you make a purchase decision.

The survey take a bit of time to go through, but it is a neat tool, and should be helpful to people who are less knowledgeable about health insurance and their family needs.

According to the article “Blue Cross Says It Will Cover Swine Flu Vaccine” by Shelia M. Poole on The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s website, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Georgia announced this week that it will include the H1N1 virus, also known as the Swine Flu, in its flu vaccine coverages.

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Georgia has 3 million members so this is a huge benefit to the state.  They will be covering clinician’s fees and doctor visits for those receiving the H1N1 vaccination.  October is the expected date for the vaccine to be available according to health officials. 

Health care workers, emergency staff, pregnant women, healthy patients between 6 mos and 24 years, those living with children under 6 mos, and people ages 25-64 who are at high risk for illness due to health disorders are the first groups recommended to get the vaccine according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. 

Spokeswoman for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Georgia, Cheryl Monkhouse, states that the majority of their policyholders have vaccine coverage so this offer will be beneficial to many of their customers.

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.

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. 

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.