Health Insurance Blog

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. 

Are you a member of Blue Cross Blue Shield or have you gotten a Blue Cross Blue Shield quote to become a member?  If you are a member you may be eligible for their healthier living plan called Blue365. 

This is another example of companies trying to make us healthier and hopefully it will pay off over the years.  Blue365 gives members access to educational information, tools and guides to healthier living, discounts on health programs and special products from well known companies.  Blue Cross Blue Shield hopes this program encourages members to make healthy choices every day of the year and by offering this support they sure make it easier.

Washington state Insurance Commissioner, Mike Kriedler, is advocating regulating the currently unregulated health discount plans, that have become much more common over the past few years.  Specifically, Mr. Kriedler would like to enact legislation that would make these plans financially responsible for paying the health care expenses that they advertise.  Commissioner Kriedler states that he has received hundreds of complaints from customers who purchased these plans and received no benefits.

If his proposed bill passes, all discount health plans (offered in Washington) must be licensed by the Washington state Insurance Commissioner. They must clearly disclose that they are a health discount health plan and not health insurance. They cannot mislead the consumer and must list the services and products that are discounted.

The health plan bill recently passed the Senate and is up for a vote in the House.

If the legislation passes, Washington will join 33 other states in regulating discount health plans.The bill would take effect July 1, 2009.

The UnitedHealth Group is now offering UnitedHealth Continuity, a policy for those that already have health insurance but are worried that they may lose it in the future. These people may be considering early retirement, or may fear unemployment and the resulting loss of health care coverage. Reed Abelson says in the New York Times that applicants must pass a medical review before being accepted. However, many individuals who have been unable to get insurance on their own are those with pre-existing conditions. The Continuity plan doesn’t seem to be helpful for them.

The UnitedHealth Continuity policy charges members 20% of the current health insurance premium to reserve the right to future coverage, and varies due to age, gender, location, and level of coverage selected. The monthly fee is also subject to increase in the future. There is also the danger of the plan becoming a costly high-risk pool that attracts people more likely to develop serious conditions.

Reed also speculates that proposed health care reforms from the incoming Obama administration include a requirement that private insurers offer individual health coverage to everyone, no matter the state of their health. That type of law would make the new UnitedHealth guarantee unnecessary. The president of UnitedHealth’s individual insurance unit, Richard A. Collins, claims that political wrangling and legislative delays make the Continuity plan viable, at least in the short term.

UnitedHealth Continuity is currently available in 25 states in which UnitedHealth already sells individual insurance. It believes that it will soon be able to offer the Continuity plan in 15 more states.

(Photo credit: Shahram Sharif under CC 2.0)

In yesterday’s Miami Herald, John Dorschner reported that Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida is now offering a discount card statewide for those without health insurance. For $20 per month, the new FamilyBlue card administered by Coverdell gives individuals discounts on routine medical expenses such as:

• prescription drugs and vitamins
• doctor visits
• dental, vision, and hearing care
• diabetes supplies

However, unlike individual health plans the card doesn’t cover hospital stays, which are most likely to lead to medical bankruptcy. Dorschner also wrote of problems surrounding doctor awareness about the program. Out of 10 approved providers for the FamilyBlue card, only one doctor accepted it when asked. Experts say these discount cards may be more suitable for young and healthy individuals less likely to need hospitalization.

CVS Caremark, a drugstore operator, has announced the launch of a new health discount program that will enable customers to get 90 say supplies of more than 400 generic maintenance drugs for as low as $9.99.

The Program called Health Savings Pass will cost $10.  In addition to receiving a 90 day supply for $9.99, customers will also receive 10% off if they pay cash at CVS MinuteClinics.  the Program is slated to begin on November 9th.

Health Savings Pass is designed to help the uninsured more effectively manage their health care costs, which is quite a challenge if you do not maintain health insurance coverage and you have expensive prescriptions that need to be filled each month.

Hartfordbusiness.com reports that on October 1 a new law will go into effect in Connecticut that regulates health discount plans.  Since April, the state department of insurance has received dozens of complaints about health discount plans, many times when people buy mistakenly thinking that they are buying health insurance.

Health discount plans provide discounts on medical bills (as much as 40% for some services while in some cases the discounts can be less than 25%)  from certain health care providers, however they do not reimburse providers on behalf of consumers the way health insurance plans do.

The new law requires that each health discount plan disclose to the state its contracts with marketers.  Plans have already been required to be licensed with the state in order to sell their plans in CT.

There has been controversy surrounding health discount plans in many states

Minnesota – 12 companies were ordered to cease operations in 2005, after using misleading advertising to trick customers into believing they were buying health insurance.

Montana — Prudent Choice was fined $150,000 and ordered to reimburse Montana residents who bought fraudulent health discount cards.

New York, South Dakota, Maryland and Florida have had similar problems with rogue marketers and their misleading sales tactics.

Over time many states will likely follow Connecticut’s lead and enact some type of legislation to protect health care consumers from aggressive sales tactics related to these plans.

If you are not precluded from purchasing a true health insurance plan due to preexisting health conditions,  you should opt for a major medical health plan, as opposed to a health discount plan.  There are many affordable health insurance options, that will provide protection as opposed to simply discounts.