Health Insurance Blog

Humana Insurance announced in February that they will be cutting their workforce throughout the course of 2010 according to their website.  They will be dropping about 1400 positions, which is about 5%, throughout 2010.  They will be balancing 2500 job reductions with the addition of 1100 jobs in areas that are experiencing growth.  The job cuts will come from attrition, outsourcing, process efficiencies, and the elimination of positions.

Some of the areas experiencing growth right now are medicare cost containment capabilities, pharmacy management, and specialty products.  By growing these lucrative areas Humana can focus on saving money for their members and offering lower Humana insurance quotes.  Humana’s President and CEO Michael B. McCallister regrets the loss of jobs, but says it’s necessary for Humana growth.

All employees affected by this plan will have a 60-day notice period at Humana.  Human Resources plans on working closely with the affected employees to help them find internal positions or outplacement assistance.  Severance packages and continuation of health benefits will be offered.  It seems that no industry is safe from job cuts.

The five largest New Jersey health insurance companies and five physician groups have launched a pilot program to reduce administrative costs by allowing hospitals and physicians to communicate directly with health plans and address administrative tasks through a web portal.

The pilot is sponsored by AHIP and the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association.  If the pilot proves successful and can be rolled out nationally, representatives from AHIP believe hundreds of billions of dollars can be saved annually.

The participating health plans include:Aetna, Amerihealth, Horizon BCBS, CIGNA, and United Healthcare.
AHIP undertook a similar pilot with Ohio health plans in October.  That pilot program is still underway.

The children of Rock County are going to benefit from the generous donation from a local contractor JP Cullen & Sons.  They are donating $37500 over the next 3 years to the Dean Foundation so they can expand their Passenger Safety Programs which include Crash Helmet, BUCKLEBEAR and Every Ride a Safe Ride.

The President and CEO of JP Cullen & Sons, David Cullen, believes these passenger safety programs can easily identify with community families.  They are very excited to support the Dean Foundation through Dean Health Plan.

The Dean Foundation Passenger Safety Programs are well respected throughout the county.  It has been around for many years and is bringing much value to the safety of county children.  These programs will nowbe available to Rock county and along with that comes the benefit of increased education, knowledge and overall safety.

According to their website, Humana Health Insurance has made some additions to their already top notch mobile program.  They are adding three more resources for the Mobile Web through their MyHumana Mobile Program.

These new resources will improve a member’s ability to make health care decisions and maximize access to Humana One and their effective tools.  The new tools include Mobile Urgent Care Finder, Mobile Spending Account Balance Viewer and the Mobile Member Information Tool.  These resources will be providing additional guidance for members and will be extremely valuable.

Mobile applications are to be offered in 2010 to enhance mobile capabilities for Humana’s members.  Humana is dedicated to connecting with their members in a way that will make their lives easier and give them the best information possible.  Resources and more information is available on their website.

Oxford Health Insurance Plans are now available to New York area small businesses as a result of a new partnership between UnitedHealthCare and HealthPass.

The health plans are available to New York area small businesses with between 2 and 50 employees.  The health plan options offered by Oxford provide a variety of plan designs including in-network and out-of-network options, as well as the option of requiring a referral for specialist visits.  Routine preventive care and laboratory services will be covered in-network at no charge.

HealthPass enables eligible small business employees to select their own health insurance coverage  that fits their medical needs and budgets.

HealthPass offers more than 25 different health plan options from New York’s leading health insurance carriers including:

EmblemHealth, GHI, HIP Health Plan of New York, and now Oxford Health Plan.

More information about New York individual health insurance options.

First Lady Michelle Obama launched a program called Let’s Move!, which is a national public/private partnership to stop the epidemic of childhood obesity.  According to BCBSA News, The Blue Cross Blue Shield Association along with their 39 independent BCBS companies strongly support her initiative.

With the launch of this important program the First Lady is bringing together a large range of stakeholders and building a foundation for bringing down childhood obesity.  Approximately 1 out of every 3 children is overweight or obese and this statistic is just staggering and unacceptable.  This puts them at risk for complications such as heart disease, diabetes, stroke and cancer at much earlier ages and BCBS agrees it’s time to get serious about stopping this epidemic

Many BCBS companies, including BCBSAL, have programs designed to promote health and fight obesity.  Focusing in on children is crucial since the next generation is predicted to be the heaviest ever.  The First Lady and her initiative is a great step in the right direction.

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida has an outstanding health program with many different facets.  Their research shows that health outcomes drastically improve when people take an active part in their health.  This is especially important when it comes to major illnesses.  BCBSFL offers a series of programs designed to help members handle their health in the long run.

Some of these valuable programs cover topics such as care coordination, voluntary pre-service coverage review, prenatal education, and chronic disease management for diabetes, asthma and congestive heart failure.  These programs are incredibly beneficial for those experiencing serious illness and need additional support to manage their condition effectively.

BCBSFL offers affordable options for members through programs such as Go Blue Florida and Blue Cross medicare supplements.  Their first priority is looking out for their members and ensuring positive experiences through their company.

Anthem Blue Cross which is a subsidiary of WellPoint, INC has notified some policyholders in California, Maine, Oregon and other states that individual health insurance rates are going to increase.  This is according to the article “Individual Insurance Rates Soar in 4 States” by The Associated Press on msnbc.com.

In California the rates are to increase up to 39% by March 1.  This is going to be devastating to many individuals who are already struggling to pay bills.  In Maine they are asking for increases up to 23% this year.  Last year alone they increased rates in Maine by 32%.  In Oregon many health insurance companies were granted rate increases of 15% or more this year after about 25% increases from last year.

Health insurance quotes are much more volatile for individual policies when compared to policies under employers and other large groups.  Those types of groups often have bargaining tools and a large pool of people to spread out the risk.  This makes it tough for those who aren’t part of groups and must get individual health insurance.  These rates increases are going to hurt a lot of people financially.

Akron Ohio based Summacare is going old-school by bringing back an old fashioned health care tradition and will be once again making house calls.

The Summacare House Call Program will be made available to select members of their traditional Medicare health plans in addition to members of their Medicare managed care products.

As part of the program, a geriatrician or nurse practitioner makes house calls to provide routine and preventive health care for frail patients who struggle to get to their doctor’s office.

In addition to being enrolled in one of SummaCare’s eligible products, patients also must have a diagnosis of hypertension, heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, diabetes, bacterial pneumonia or other chronic illnesses to be eligible for the program.

More about: senior health insurance options, Ohio health insurance.

To fill the need of those looking for short term health insurance in these tough times, Humana One has extended its short term health insurance to five more states.  These states include Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Georgia, and Kansas.  With these 5 new states Humana One now offers short term health insurance to 20 states total according to their website.

This is great news for many consumers in these states as the need for short term health insurance is increasing with the unemployment rate.  The design of the program varies from state to state, but they are quality benefits throughout.

Short term health insurance offers immediate and affordable health care coverage for those who are in between jobs or in the middle of a transition.  It’s a great opportunity for students who are about to graduate, seasonal employees, recent retirees waiting to be eligible for Medicare and those who are unemployed looking for new work.  It can be a very convenient option for many and it’s worth getting Humana Insurance quotes if you are in a state of transition.