Health Insurance Blog

The article “Health Care Reform Would Help Insurers” by Gavin Magor on thestreet.com says insurance company stocks have risen in hopes that health care reform will come to a halt.  In actuality, reform could widen and increase insurers’ customer base while potentially increasing profits.

The House and Senate health care reform bills would promote some of the biggest changes in the industry in the last 40 years and provide millions of Americans with health insurance and an easier system to obtain affordable health insurance quotes.  The bills also include extensions of Medicaid and additional restrictions on insurance companies.

With reduced rates on Medicare some companies may struggle.  Humana Health Insurance is the largest Medicare Advantage provider so in order for them to remain profitable they would need to control expenditures.  It’s definitely possible as many health insurance companies have proven profits can remain during a recession by keeping costs down.

Last week Humana announced that they were expanding the footprint of their Humana One short term health insurance plans to five additional states.  The five new states include Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, and georgia.

The Humana One short term individual health insurance plan is now available in twenty states.  Like most short term health insurance coverage, these plans can be purchased for as little as 30 days or as much as 1 year.

Short term health insurance plans are designed primarily for recent college graduates who are job hunting, adults who are in-between jobs or recent retires who are not yet eligible for Medicare related products.

Humana also offers a portfolio of individual health insurance plans that are not short term in nature and can be held for indefinite periods of time.

In US News and World Reports recent ranking of the the nations top health insurance plans, CIGNA HealthCare Mid-Atlantic was rated as the top health plan in Virginia.  The US News rankings are based on member satisfaction, as well as their effectiveness in both preventing and treating illnesses.

According to the report the top 5 Commercial Health Plans in Virginia were:

1. CIGNA HealthCare Mid-Atlantic
2. Optima Health Plan
3. Southern Health Services
4. Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of the Mid-Atlantic States
5. UnitedHealthcare Plan of the River Valley

CIGNA HealthCare Mid-Atlantic ranked 42nd nationally out of more than 600 health plans that participated in the report.

More information about Virginia health insurance.

State Farm health insurance has teamed up with Humana in an alliance to offer Medicare Prescription Drug Plans, also known as Medicare Part D.  Humana’s Medicare Prescription Drug Plans offers guidance on how to save money on your prescriptions.  They make it easy for you to keep track of prescription costs.  They offer a SmartSummary RxSM statement which shows what you bought and the varying costs.

It’s benefits like these that make State Farm and Humana Medicare supplement insurance plans unique.  Humana offers 3 stand alone Medicare Prescription Drug Plans to help balance your health insurance budget.  In today’s economy and so many pinching pennies, this benefit proves extremely valuable.

State Farm and Humana have joined to market Medicare Advantage plans as well.  This type of plan combines the benefit of prescription drug coverage with the Medicare health coverage in one convenient plan.  They offer additional benefits when compared to Original Medicare.

According to US News and World Reports’ annual rankings of Idaho health insurance plans, Group Health Cooperative is the top plan in the state for 2009-2010.  The report included the top 4 health plans in Idaho as seen below.

1. Group Health Cooperative
2. SelectHealth
3. Group Health Options (Options)
4. Group Health Options (Alliant)

When compared against the entire country, Group Health Cooperative ranked 76th out of more than 600 commercial health plans that provided data to be included in Report.  An additional 120 health plans did not wish to be included in the report or otherwise did not provide requested data.

According to the Humana Big Book commercial, signing up for Humana’s medicare program can be as easy as 3 steps.  Upon viewing their website it’s really true.

Obtaining Humana insurance quotes online has always been relatively simple, but now the company is marketing strong their Medicare programs.  With more and more Medicare eligible consumers becoming internet savvy, more programs are encouraging shopping around online.  Humana claims to have a wide array of plans so you are bound to find one that will fit your needs.  On their website you can easily compare Medicare Advantage plans, compare prescription drug plans, review plan features and enroll online instantly if you choose to do so.

Now is the perfect time for marketing Medigap supplemental insurance plans because the time period for changing Medicare Advantage plans or prescription plans for ‘10 is January 1 through March 31.  This holds true unless you recently became eligible for Medicare or if you have certain special circumstances.

In what has been a roller coaster for all those involved and interested, the Wall Street Journal reports that the health overhaul bill once finalized need not include a Government-run health insurance option as long as other parts of the bill would fulfill the same goals.  However, one thing that will be required from the bill is the ability to hold health insurance companies accountable.

Keeping a public option out of the bill is a top priority for AHIP, whose members include CIGNA, WellPoint Inc. and Humana Inc. among other health insurance companies. The group also opposed the Senate bill because of new taxes on the industry, caps on administrative costs and other changes.

Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield of Wisconsin has introduced a new low-cost health insurance plan for individuals called CoreShare.  In addition they have enhanced their SmartSense and Premier health plans.

CoreShare has a simple plan design and can be as cheap as $45 per month for a 25 year old Male in Milwaukee.

Among other benefits, CoreShare health plans offer:  A choice of nine deductible options (ranging from 750 to 25000), $2,000,000 in lifetime protection per member, access to both PPO and Point-of-Service networks, and access to the Blue Cross Blue Shield BlueCard Program.

Members choosing Anthem’s CoreShare, SmartSense, Premier or Lumenos (HSA) plans have access to more than 13,820 Wisconsin POS network doctors and specialists, and nearly 140 hospitals.

More information about Wisconsin health insurance.

PacificSource Health Plans has acquired Clear One Health Plans for $46 Million.  Under the merger agreement, Clear One will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Eugene Oregon based PacificSource.

The merger will allow PacificSource to increase its presence in Central Oregon and expand into the Medicare and Medicaid markets through Clear One Health Plans  operation while continuing to devote energy towards PacificSource’s commercial health insurance business.

The deal still requires approval by the Oregon Insurance Division, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and the Oregon Division of Medical Assistance Programs, as well as final shareholder approval.

Bend Oregon based Clear One provides health insurance, including Medicare Advantage plans, commercial plans, individual health insurance plans as well as administrative services to individuals and businesses throughout the West.

After the merger, PacificSource Health Plans is expected to cover about 228,000 members and PacificSource TPA about 80,000. Employer clients are expected to total 5,676 and 303 respectively.

More information about Oregon Health Insurance.

Nine out of ten seniors are satisfied with their medicare supplement insurance according to Blue Cross Blue Shield’s (BCBS) website.  Most Medigap policyholders feel they are getting good value for their money based upon a survey recently released by BCBS and America’s Health Insurance Plans.

The survey, which was conducted by American ViewPoint, INC, shows that approximately 88% of seniors carrying medicare supplement insurance were satisfied and 62% consider themselves very satisfied.  Even more impressive is that 87% said they would recommend their Medigap coverage to friends and family.  According to the survey, the main thing they liked about their coverage was the flexibility choosing any physician they wish and the peace of mind they find with their protection.  Medical bills and processing paperwork is simple as well for these consumers.

Shopping around for a Medigap policy can be overwhelming since there are so many companies offering these types of policies, including BCBS medicare supplements.  To ensure you are part of the majority who have positive experiences with their Medicare, it’s important to shop around to get the best rates as well as the most comprehensive benefits that suit your needs.