Health Insurance Blog

A new poll came out from Mason-Dixon Polling Research Inc. for the Las Vegas Review Journal last week reviewing where Nevadans stand on the health care debate.  The survey consisted of phone responses from 500 registered voters in Nevada.  Nevada and Las Vegas health insurance issues are definitely a concern for residents.  All of this information is according to the article “Most Nevadans Believe Health Reform Includes Tax Hikes” by Calli Fisher at krnv.com, News 4.

The poll shows that 49% of Nevadans are against President Obama’s health care proposal while 43% support it.  Only 8% believe no action is necessary.  A shocking 77% believe that President Obama’s plan will include an increase in taxes.  This goes against what most residents believe should be the main concerns when revamping health care.  This includes cheaper health insurance, easier to access and fewer restrictions. 

74% of Nevada Democrats support Obama’s plan and only 9% of Republicans approve of it.  Some say these numbers include many who don’t fully understand the proposal nor do they understand how it will affect them directly.  The poll does have a margin of error of plus or minus 4.5%.  It is still to be determined how and when Nevada health insurance will be affected.

According to the article “How Health Care Bill Would Net $81B” from CBS News’s website, the Finance Committee will vote on the health care reform plan next week.  The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office says the plan meets President Obama’s requirement that it will not increase the nation’s budget deficit. 

The article states that the $829 billion cost for the Finance Committee’s bill would be offset by fees on drug companies, taxes on top health insurance companies and cutbacks to Medicare.  They estimate to have a net savings of $81 billion over ten years for the government.  This may affect the way Americans go about finding health insurance and how they pay for it. 

The proposed bill would allow 29 million Americans to purchase health insurance who are not currently covered.  Families making under $88,000 could get a subsidy of $5500 for a family of four.  Wealthier citizens would be required to purchase individual health insurance or pay a penalty. 

Although health insurance rates continue to rise, affordable health insurance can still be found.  Flexible Blue is an affordable individual health plan offered by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan (BCBSM) for families and individuals who live in Michigan.

Flexible Blue is an HSA qualified health insurance plan, with monthly premiums as low as $52.82 per month for a plan with a 5000 deductible.

Maternity Coverage, and Dental Insurance are optional packages that can be added to your Flexible Blue health insurance plan

More information about Michigan health insurance.

According to the article “Texas Health Insurance Plans Help Residents of the Lone Star State During Natural Disasters” by Ronnie Hamilton on bestsyndication.com, when Hurricane Ike hit Texas last year everyone with injuries, even minor, were sent to the hospital for a mandatory check up. 

Residents were strongly encouraged to seek medical attention as soon as possible to ensure everyone was safe.  Those carrying individual health insurance in Texas were grateful they were covered.  The article states that Texas has one of the highest rates of uninsured residents and this is unfortunate especially in a national natural disaster like a hurricane. 

This is just one of many reasons to be properly covered, especially if you have children.  The Texas government offers plans that are affordable.  It is also Texas law that there be programs available free or very low cost for children whose parents are unable to provide it for them.  Know your options and be sure you are protected.

Beth Fouhy from the Associated Press wrote a very interesting article entitled “People playing the odds on health care over costs” found on google.com.  The article discusses a group of people unsupportive of President Obama’s ideal that everyone should be required to have individual health insurance coverage.

It’s not known exactly how many of the 50 million uninsured Americans forego insurance voluntarily, but research from the Kaiser Family Foundation shows that most of the uninsured are young, healthy adults, who are self employed or in low wage positions that do not offer health insurance and do not pay enough for employees to afford individual health insurance.

But it is known that some people in this group of uninsured do choose to not carry health insurance because they pay far less for health care than they would in monthly premiums.  Plus it’s possible insurance wouldn’t cover all of their medical needs even if they did pay the expensive premiums.  Under one of Congress’s proposed plans, people who opt out of carrying health insurance may have to pay a penalty.  It will be a balancing act for the people choosing to not carry health insurance if this plan does become law.

Assurant Health Insurance, a leader in individual medical, small group, and specialty health insurance products, announced earlier this month about two changes to their leadership team.  This is according to their Newsroom article “Assurant Health Announces Executive Promotions”. 

Steve Cain has been promoted to senior vice president-chief administrative and risk officer.  Jack Rogers has been promoted to senior vice president-strategic development and provider management.  Both of these men report to CEO Don Hamm. 

In Cain’s new role, he will oversee the company’s touch points, aligning claims, medical management, customer satisfaction, underwriting and risk management functions.  In Rogers’ new position he will combine his previous duties as senior VP-provider management with the strategic development and mergers and acquisition roles as well as examining the future of health care delivery going forward. 

There has been much much media coverage over the past year regarding rapidly increasing health insurance rates.  Rates have increased significantly this decade for sure, however there are still affordable health insurance plans that can be found.

Individual Blue is a low cost health insurance plan for Alabama residents offered by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama (BCBSAL).  Individual is designed for children and young adults from birth through age 24.

• For children aged 0-14 (with the 750 plan) rates are as low as $69 per month.
• For young adults aged 15-24 with a similar plan rates are as low as $72 per month.

More information about Alabama health insurance.

On Blue Cross Blue Shield’s website there is a news article entitled “New Census Report Underscores Need for Health Care Reform”.  It has a statement from President and Chief Executive Officer of Blue Cross Blue Shield Scott P. Serota.  The statement follows after the release of the report from the US Census Bureau that shows the number of uninsured Americans increased from 45.7 million in 2007 to 46.4 million in 2008. 

Serota points out that no one should have to worry about having quality, affordable health insurance.  He believes that 46 million uninsured is unacceptable.  It’s an important reminder of the critical need for health care reform.  According to Serota, we should enact bipartisan health care reform this year that will give health insurance coverage to everyone. 

Blue Cross Blue Shield companies support initiatives working towards this goal.  They want to build on the employer based system currently in place.  He says the high number of uninsured is partly because of the recession, but something still needs to be done now to fix this problem. 

According to a recent report released by Families USA, North Carolina health insurance rates have increased sharply.  It now costs over $13,000 to insure the average North Carolina family via an employer sponsored health insurance plan.   Of that amount, the family will end up paying $4,000-$5,000 out of pocket.

The cost of Group health insurance coverage in North Carolina has increased 97% since 2000.

BCBSNC the largest health insurance company in North Carolina took in $2.2 Billion in group health insurance premiums in 2008 vs. $841 Million in 2001 (a 161% increase).  Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina Individual health insurance plans (such as Blue Advantage) brought in $971 Million in premiums in 2008 vs. $311 Million in 2001 (212% growth).

It should be noted that BCBSNC’s growth in premiums collected cannot be attributed solely to the increase in prices as they have grown their membership base significantly over the period of time examined in the report.

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.