Health Insurance Blog

As unemployment rises so does the number of people who need help finding health insurance.  A lost job usually means a loss in employer based health insurance as well.  According to the article on WISN.com, millions of Americans are an illness away from financial ruin because they are not protected by health insurance. 

Finding health insurance does not have to be difficult.  Consumer Reports supports checking to see if you qualify for Medicaid.  If you do not, another option is checking to see if your kids qualify for the Children’s Health insurance program (CHIPS). 

By visiting govbenefits.org you can see if there are any other government insurance programs you may be eligible for.  It’s important to shop around and educate yourself on the different types of health insurance options out there.

Despite the fiscal crisis being experienced nationwide, 14 states found money this year to increase health insurance coverage for an additional 250,000 children nationwide.

The states took advantage of $33 Million that was appropriated by Congress when it reauthorized the Children’s health insurance program (CHIP) back in February.

the 14 states that are expanding their children’s health insurance programs inlcude: Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington, and West Virginia

Since 2008, at least 21 other states have had to cut state sponsored health programs due to financial woes.  In addition the recession has caused at least 15 states to make cuts to Medicaid Programs during 2010-2011, and 8 states have made cuts to Medicaid benefits for 2009

According to the PRWeb article through medicaresupplementplans.com entitled “California Health Insurance Assistance Program Awarded 2009 Grant Funding”, California health insurance assistance programs are expected to receive about $3 million in grants to help Medicare beneficiaries in need of information on health insurance topics.

This is an ongoing effort to better assist these citizens who are often lacking comprehensive and accurate information about their health care options.  The funds being used are part of a $35.8 million grant from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.  The grants to California health insurance assistance programs are part of the 1st installment of funding that began in April ‘09 and will end in March ‘10.

Seniors often underestimate how time consuming researching and understanding their benefits can be.  And sometimes it gets really complicated.  These funds will support programs designed to make this process for them a little easier.  The assistance is personalized and local while providing a wide range of health insurance information best suited to each individual.

According to the Curt Woodward, an AP writer, the health insurance rates that Washington residents pay for the state subsidized Washington Basic Health Plan are set to rise sharply.  Monthly premiums will rise from around $37 to roughly $62.  In addition, annual deductibles will rise from $150 to $250.

About 100,000 Washingtonians are enrolled in the plan, which is an affordable health insurance option for the “working poor”.  Those that make too much to be eligible for Medicaid, but can’t afford to purchase Washington health insurance coverage otherwise.

The number of enrollees in the state subsidized health plan as well will shrink as well, which will help keep the plan solvent.  The 100,000 enrollees will be reduced to a projected 65,000 over time.  Part of the reduction will be driven by moving people who are eligible for Medicaid over to that plan (roughly 8,000).

More information about Washington health insurance.

According to Reuters, below is a list and description of the key players involved in the health care debate and subsequently shaping health care reform

• Kathleen Sebelius, Health and Human Services Secretary, leads Obama’s push to enact by the end of 2009 an overhaul of the $2.5 trillion U.S. health care industry. Previously served as the Kansas health insurance commissioner for eight years.
• Nancy-Ann DeParle, director of White House Office of Health Reform, is charged with coordinating reform efforts with Congress. A former Clinton administration official, DeParle headed the Health Care Financing Administration (now Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services).
• Rahm Emanuel, White House Chief of Staff.   He was chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, fourth in the hierarchy of House Democratic leaders, was formerly a senior adviser to President Clinton.
• Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, and the panel’s senior Republican, Sen. Chuck Grassley have taken the lead in the debate, playing key roles in writing legislation aimed at reducing soaring costs and expanding health insurance coverage to the estimated 46 million uninsured Americans.
• Senate Health Committee Chairman Edward Kennedy, has been a leader in the Senate on health care reform, pushing for a Patient’s Bill of Rights and an expansion of Medicare, to lower prescription drugs cost.
• Sen. Mike Enzi of Wyoming, senior Republican on the Senate Health panel, advocates for bipartisan support for health care reform.
• House Energy and Commerce committee chairman Henry Waxman, has championed reform efforts, including expand of health coverage for children, seniors, persons with disabilities, and low-income families.
• Joe Barton, the senior Republican on the House Energy panel, says ensuring that Americans are able to afford the health care they need is an important priority.
• House Ways and Means chairman Charles Rangel, supports an expansion of health care to include Americans who lack health insurance coverage. He says the United States must provide health coverage for children and working people the same kind of coverage Medicare provides for Seniors.
• Rep Dave Camp, the senior Republican on the House Ways and Means panel, says health coverage expansion can and should be done without making the government the sole health insurance provider.

More coveage of health care reform topics.

A recent Reuters article quoted these facts about our healthcare system.

1. According to US Government economists, public and private health care spending will hit $2.5 Trillion this year, 17.6% of GDP
2. Americans spend more per capita on health care than any other country at $7,421 per person, and receive poorer care than many other industrialized countries that have nationalized health care.  (Of the $7000 plus spent on health care per person…35% of this is paid by private health insurance companies, 19% paid by Medicare, 15% is paid by Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Programs, 12% from public funds, 7% private sources, and the remaining 12% out of pocket by patients.)
3. 15% of population (46 million people) have no health insurance coverage.
4. 63% of US companies offer health benefits to workers.
5. Growth in health insurance premiums has outpaced workers’ earnings and inflation since 2004 by a ratio of 4 to1.

Since the Healthy Indiana government-subsidized health care program was opened to adults without children in January 2008, it has given thousands greater access to Indiana health insurance. According to the Courier-Journal’s Leslie Stedman Weidenbener, the plan has been so successful that many people are on a waiting list to enroll (due to limited program funds). State legislators negotiated an exception to Medicaid regulations that limit the program to families. 34,000 out of 49,000 enrollees are adults without children who are unable to afford individual health insurance.

People covered under the Healthy Indiana program must pay a sliding scale monthly premium based on their income (from $20 to $75).

What’s included under the Healthy Indiana plan?

1. $500 in free preventative care each year
2. An annual health savings account (HSA) of $1,100
3. After the HSA is spent, there is a traditional health insurance plan without co-payments or deductibles.

To qualify for the Healthy Indiana program, Leslie writes that a childless adult must meet the following requirements:

• They must work for a company that doesn’t offer health insurance (so employers can’t drop them from their coverage and shift the burden onto the state)
• A single adult can make no more than $21,660 per year, or 200% of the poverty level
• They must have been without health insurance for at least six months.

Today’s edition of the Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report newsletter highlighted a sobering statistic about Pennsylvania health insurance: over one million residents lack it! According to the study, conducted last year:

• More than 8% of the state’s population is uninsured, compared to 7.5% in 2004.
• The number of uninsured children in Pennsylvania increased 5%, to 140,000.
• 880,000 Pennsylvanian adults are without health insurance, up 17%.

The top four providers of Florida health insurance recently met to discuss health care under a Barack Obama administration, says Jeremy Cox of the Jacksonville Times-Union. Representatives from Humana, UnitedHealth, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida, and Aetna were in attendance.

The insurers believe that President Obama should enact a health insurance mandate for all Americans if, as they predict, he will require insurers to cover individuals with pre-existing conditions. They think that the cost will be prohibitive for carriers otherwise. At the moment, Obama has not publicly supported a mandate, and how exactly one would be carried out is unknown. He has supported a role for the private sector in universal health care, but that role will most likely be a change from the current market.

Instead of the plans Obama and congressional Democrats have proposed for health care reform, the insurance companies would prefer that the government focus mainly on enrolling eligible but currently uninsured individuals in federal-run programs like Medicaid and Medicare, Jeremy says. While the insurance companies agreed that greater coverage is a priority, they claim the task of covering other Americans should be left to them through innovative new plans.

RedOrbit recently reported that after many states have seen a significant increase in Medicaid enrollment since the beginning of the recession (Connecticut has seen a 6% increase this year), governors have asked Congress and President-Elect Barack Obama to help them pay for the publicly funded health insurance plan. The governors are petitioning for $40 billion to cover a shortfall in projected tax revenues, which would be a two-year long increase in the percentage Washington D.C. kicks in for medical funding. As of the 2007 fiscal year the federal goverment covers 57% of Medicaid costs while individual states cover the rest.

Medicaid is offered to children and the extremely poor; about 1 in 6 low income individuals in America are enrolled. Rising unemployment has resulted in more people being eligible for Medicaid, while at the same time state governments are suffering from lower tax revenues. Unlike the federal government, states aren’t allowed to run a budget deficit. If the states don’t recieve this funding, they will either have to cut programs or raise taxes in order to balance their budgets. While most unemployed individuals can buy into group health insurance plans, the majority cannot afford the premiums without an employer paying some part of them.