Health Insurance Blog

According to the article “Geisinger Study Aims to Find Fun, Effective Way to Combat Pediatric Obesity” found of their website, childhood obesity in the US is on the rise.  With this comes a significant raise in the risk of type 2 diabetes.  This has motivated Geisinger Health Plan to do something about it.

Researchers at Geisinger Health System’s Henry Hood Center for Health Research and University of PA received a grant by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases to look for creative ways to prevent as well as treat children ages 4-8 who are in the 85th percentile for weight or who have a higher BMI. 

Geisinger Health Insurance is taking on this initiative partly because The American Academy of Pediatrics report the prevalence of kids who are obese has doubled over the last 20 years.  According to the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 31.9% of children and teens are overweight, and 16.3% are considered obese.  These statistics are staggering and shows that something must be done to curb these numbers.  Geisinger is heading in the right direction to take action and find ways to decrease obesity in this country.

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.

In US News & World Reports Ranking of the nations top health insurance plans, they ranked the Georgia health plans in the following order.

Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of Georgia (HMO) - Kaiser’s HMO ranked very well, receiving 5 stars in both treatment and Prevention measures.  The plan only received 2 stars on the customer assessment measure, but nevertheless the health plan was rated tops in Georgia overall.  (#27 nationally.)

CIGNA Healthcare of Georgia (#91)

Aetna Health Georgia (#116)

UnitedHealthCare of Georgia (#123)

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Georgia (#124)

Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of Georgia (POS) (#151)

Humana Employers Health of Georgia (#204)

Kaiser Foundation Health Plan’s HMO was a pretty clear #1 in Georgia, as they were the only Georgia health insurance plan receiving 5 stars in both  treatment and prevention measures.    The next several health plans ranking behind Kaiser were pretty equal in terms of ranking across the various measures.

Several new Georgia state laws become law as we ring in the new year today.  Among these new laws is one which will eliminate both state and local taxes for Georgia health insurers who offer high-deductible health insurance plans.  The tax break will save insurance companies an estimated $146 Million over 5 years.  The idea behind the law is that it will ultimately save the Georgia Government money as a proliferation of high-deductible health plans will provide coverage for the estimated 1.7million Georgia residents who lack health insurance and end up costing the state money, however critics of the plan question whether this law will do anything to reduce the number of uninsured.

More information about Georgia health insurance.

The Atlanta Journal Constitution reports that the state officials have announced their plans to keep intact two important government funded plans for low-income Georgia residents — Medicaid and PeachCare for Kids.  Neither services nor eligibility will be restricted, at least through 2010.

As times get tough, these two government-sponsored health insurance programs become even more important for people who are down on their luck.

Medicaid and PeachCare currenly cover about 1.4million Georgia residents between them.

More information about Georgia health insurance options.