Health Insurance Blog

In Southeastern Pennsylvania, Independence Blue Cross (IBC) in conjunction with Highmark Blue Shield has formed the Caring Foundation which helps to provide free or low-cost health insurance plans to uninsured children and adults in the 5 counties including and surrounding Philadelphia.

Plans that are administered through the Caring Program include Pennsylvania CHIP, Adultbasic, and Special Care.

Special Care in particular is a limited benefit plan providing traditional fee for service coverage to uninsured adults and children in Southeastern PA.

More information about Pennsylvania health insurance and Philadelphia health insurance.

Beth Fouhy from the Associated Press wrote a very interesting article entitled “People playing the odds on health care over costs” found on google.com.  The article discusses a group of people unsupportive of President Obama’s ideal that everyone should be required to have individual health insurance coverage.

It’s not known exactly how many of the 50 million uninsured Americans forego insurance voluntarily, but research from the Kaiser Family Foundation shows that most of the uninsured are young, healthy adults, who are self employed or in low wage positions that do not offer health insurance and do not pay enough for employees to afford individual health insurance.

But it is known that some people in this group of uninsured do choose to not carry health insurance because they pay far less for health care than they would in monthly premiums.  Plus it’s possible insurance wouldn’t cover all of their medical needs even if they did pay the expensive premiums.  Under one of Congress’s proposed plans, people who opt out of carrying health insurance may have to pay a penalty.  It will be a balancing act for the people choosing to not carry health insurance if this plan does become law.

During Nationwide Tour’s Utah Championship September 11-13, Humana Health Insurance, the official health benefits company of the PGA Tour, provided pedometers to all spectators to encourage healthy exercise.  This is according to an article on Humana’s website in their Newsroom. 

The promotion, called Walk it Tee to Green, advised spectators to chart how many steps they took throughout the Championship walking throughout the Willow Creek Country Club.  Everyone who reached 7,000 steps were entered into a drawing to win an iPod, and anyone who walked 10,000 steps were entered into a drawing for a iPod Touch.

Humana Health Insurance has brought the Walk it Tee to Green promotion to three other PGA Tours, including The Valero Texas Open, the HP Byron Nelson Championship, and the Stanford St. Jude Championship this year.  The total number of steps taken at these events was 9 million steps which is about 4,621 miles.  This amount of walking burned off about 406,732 calories.  Walking is one of the best exercises to keep Americans healthy and Humana Health Insurance is supporting this initiative to promote healthier living.

As unemployment rises so does the number of people who need help finding health insurance.  A lost job usually means a loss in employer based health insurance as well.  According to the article on WISN.com, millions of Americans are an illness away from financial ruin because they are not protected by health insurance. 

Finding health insurance does not have to be difficult.  Consumer Reports supports checking to see if you qualify for Medicaid.  If you do not, another option is checking to see if your kids qualify for the Children’s Health insurance program (CHIPS). 

By visiting govbenefits.org you can see if there are any other government insurance programs you may be eligible for.  It’s important to shop around and educate yourself on the different types of health insurance options out there.

Residents living in Dallas County, TX are eligible for a unique Dallas health insurance perk.  Dallas County’s prescription drug card covers pet’s medicines as well, according to the article on examiner.com by Rebecca Poling. 

The Dallas County Coast2Coast RX card offers huge savings on prescription drugs, up to 65%.  This includes pet prescriptions also.  There are no health restrictions nor are there any age or income requirements.  Both brand name and generic drugs are covered under this program. 

WalMart, Kroger, Walgreens, CVS, Sam’s Club, Target, Tom Thumb, Costco, Minyard and others are all participating pharmacies of the Dallas County Coast2Coast RX Card.  This card can mean big savings if you live in the eligible area.

A rare bi-partisan bill in the California legislature, allowed more than 700,000 children in low-income California families to maintain their health insurance coverage through the Healthy families Program.

The deal restored about $200 Million that was slashed from the budget this summer.  For this to happen, health insurance companies agreed to impose a tax on themselves.  In addition, Healthy Families participants will pay slightly higher premiums.

Healthy families provides health, vision and dental coverage for nearly 1 million children whose families aren’t poor enough to qualify for Medi-Cal but can’t afford private health insurance.

More information about California health insurance.

The Texas Health Insurance Pool website gives some history and background to what the pool is and how it benefits Texas residents.

The Texas Legislature created the Texas Health Insurance Pool to provide Texas health insurance benefits to eligible Texans who are unable to get coverage from commercial insurance companies because of previous or current medical conditions. 

The Pool is also an alternative means for individual health insurance coverage which guarantees transferring coverage to qualified residents who lose their coverage under an employer based plan, a church plan, or a state plan.  This is mandated by the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, also known as HIPPAA.

New York health insurance is ahead of the game when it comes to health care reform according to the article “Feds must consider NY situation in fixing care” by Kenneth Adams on poughkeepsiejournal.com.  New York is one step ahead of the nation when it comes to health care infrastructure, medical education, research, health insurance mandates, and insurance taxes.

New York’s plan isn’t perfect and is much more expensive than other states’ plans.  This is why New York is an important state to look at as Congress tries to put together health care reform.  According to the United Hospital Fund, NY ranks 25th across the country with 15% of New Yorkers without health insurance under 65.  If federal policies make New York health insurance more expensive NY cannot improve their numbers. 

59% of people in New York still get their health insurance from employer sponsored plans.  New health insurance taxes without reform to offset the increasing prices will force more New York companies to stop offering health insurance benefits to their employees.  That will cause even more uninsured residents since it will be harder for them to obtain individual health insurance.

The state of Wisconsin is planning to require a open bidding process for private health insurance companies which seek to manage the BadgerCare Plus Health Insurance Program

BadgerCare Plus provides health insurance coverage for low-income families with children under 19, but now also offers a health insurance plan with more limited coverage to low-income adults who do not have young children.

In other BadgerCare news, applications for BadgerCare Plus Core (the plan for low-income families without children) have come in more quickly than expected and the state is currently working through the application backlog that has developed in the first two months since its launch.  In the first 7 weeks more than 37,000 applications were received and only 5,000 were processed.

More information about Wisconsin health insurance.

State Farm Health Insurance is giving America a highly needed challenge.  They are challenging Americans to collectively lose 50 million pounds across the nation, according to the article “Insurance agency challenges Americans to lose weight” on wqow.com. 

Bob Johnson, an agent at State Farm Insurance, says that the healthier you are the less frequently you visit the doctor which will help lower your health insurance rates over time.  There is also the benefit of living a longer, higher quality life the healthier you live.  A healthy lifestyle will help you lose weight, have more energy and just feel better overall.

Online registration is available and participants can track their progress throughout the challenge.  There is also information on how to lead a healthier lifestyle.  State Farm Health Insurance is offering a kit which includes a pedometer and an information booklet.  Hopefully America is up for the challenge because obesity continues to be on the rise.