Health Insurance Blog

Consumer Reports recently came out with a survey about consumers and their satisfaction with their current health insurance plan.  This is according to the article “Health Plans Get Only So-So Reviews” on the Washington Post’s website.

The survey’s findings were based on responses from 37,481 readers who reported their health insurance experience over a course of a year.  The numbers represent a good benchmark for HMO’s and PPO health insurance.  84% of the respondents have an employer based plan they will be able to keep under most proposals being discussed in Congress.

The Consumer Reports National Research Center found that only 64% of readers were very or completely satisfied with their current individual health insurance plan.  This shows a drop from the 2007 survey which revealed 67% was satisfied.  Based on other Consumer Reports surveys people are less satisfied with health insurance than other industries such as pharmacies and real estate agents.  Over 30% of readers are not completely satisfied with their health insurance and this leaves a lot of opportunity for health care reform.

Health Care Lane is a new and interactive website where experts explain health insurance topics offered by UnitedHealthcare health insurance according to their Newsroom on uhc.com.  Health Care Lane enables an online community to get common health insurance questions answered quickly.

Health Care Lane was launched in time for open enrollment and offers help with selecting the right health insurance plan and understanding health insurance quotes.  The straightforward conversations are designed to be user friendly and easy to understand. 

Not only is Health Care Lane available to UnitedHealthcare members, but it’s also offered to anyone interested in learning more about health care topics.  Visitors can learn about simple topics such as the definition of a premium or more complex topics such as the benefits of a Health Savings Account.  This site is a great opportunity for consumers to educate themselves on the many facets of health insurance, now more than ever as the health care system is up for debate. 

The Senate Finance Committee is coming close to figuring out a healthcare reform bill according to Maggie Guo’s article on The Ethiopian Review site.  Health care cooperatives are still on the table, which has the idea of building large groups so that the price of expensive medical costs are spread out among members to reduce costs for everyone.

But Consumer Watchdog says this will not necessarily lower health insurance quotes for consumers.  They say that in practice there has not been enough members for cooperatives to carry out their function and people with less medical risk often opt out of joining. 

For a cooperative to be effective, member enrollment would need to be near 500,000 consumers according to some estimates.  There have been attempts in Texas, Florida and Colorado without much success.  There is also the concern that if small states get together to create bigger groups, then health insurance companies may insist on a suspension of state regulations because of the different types of customers they would be serving.  This would in turn cause a whole new type of oversight and possibly a lack of proper regulation. 

About eight out of ten Americans favor a public option health insurance plan on the table in Congress right now.  This is according to the new poll underwritten by AARP and completed by Penn, Schoen & Berland Associates released Tuesday night at an AARP event in Denver. 

While most people seem to favor this public option, only four out of ten can accurately define what a public option health insurance plan means.  This is not good news for President Obama who may be facing possible defeat on his health care reform platform. 

The poll surveyed 1,000 Republicans, Democrats and independents across the nation earlier in August.  The survey does suggest that Americans agree on health care reform of some sort, but there is much less agreement on whether or not it’s worth higher taxes or higher health insurance rates. 

Most are still very concerned about having affordable health insurance.  65% oppose tax increases and 73% oppose higher health insurance premiums.  This information was found through the Wichita Business Journal in the article “AARP polling shows uncertainties about ‘public option’ insurance in health reform” by Neil Westergaard. 

Sarah Komuniecki of WABI News reported that Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield of Maine has filed a request to increase its rates by an average of 14.5%. Over 12,000 Maine health insurance customers with the following plans will be affected if the plan is approved:

• Health Choice
• Basic
• Health Choice Standard
• Lumenos Consumer Directed

The state’s Department of Insurance is currently asking residents to voice their opinions about Anthem BCBS of ME’s proposal in town hall meetings throughout the state or on their website.

The Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association recently released the findings of a research study which concluded that health insurance shoppers are much more vigilant about both their health as well as their health care related costs when they are enrolled in a consumer-directed health plan (CDHP).

Specifically, the report entitled 2008 CDHP Member Experience Survey found that members enrolled in CDHPs were:

• 30% more likely to track their health care expenses and
• 27%  more likely to ask their doctor about the costs of treatments before moving forward

In addition, enrollees were more proactive in seeking preventative care such as check-ups, physicals, and preventive screenings.

In aggregate, Blue Cross Blue Shield member health plans cover more than 4.4 million members nationally with CDHPs, of which about two-thirds are enrolled in health savings accounts.

visit http://www.bcbs.com/news/bluetvradio/consumerdriven2008/ for a webcast of the complete presentation.