Health Insurance Blog

According to the article “Humana Profit Rises 65% Despite Commercial Falloff” by The Associated Press on the NYTimes.com, Humana One posted a significant profit because of an increase in membership and premiums from Medicare Advantage. 

Humana’s quarterly revenue increased by 8% as enrollment rose 11% from last year in its Medicare Advantage.  Enrollment in its plans sold to employers dropped by 7.6% from a year ago.  This contributed to a pretax loss in their commercial segment.  Many health insurance companies are suffering as employer-sponsored health coverage plans drop because of layoffs and companies going out of business.  In October, the 3 largest publicly traded health insurers, incliding United Health Group, WellPoint and Aetna, reported 3rd quarter results which were below expectations.

Humana says it spent approximately $5 million on swine flu related costs in the 3rd quarter.  The chief financial officer said the company expected a heavier swine flu season for the 4th quarter.  Now more than ever it’s crucial to ensure you have proper health insurance coverage.  You can get Humana insurance quotes online to see if you can save some money and get insured.

Open enrollment for Medicare Advantage plans is rapidly approaching (November 15 - December 31).  We thought we’d blog about some of the top rated plans in each state according to US News and World Reports annual rankings.

In California, Kaiser Foundation Health Plan boasts the 2 top ranked plans in the state. Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of Southern California was the top rated Medicare health plan in California with an overall score of 88.1, followed by Kaiser’s plan covering Northern California (86.8).  These two plans were followed by Health Net of California (83.2), Pacificare of California (81.7) and Aetna Health of California (80.4).

None of the twenty California Medicare Plans ranked in this study received a customer assessment score of greater than three stars out of five.  However, both Kaiser plans faired very well in both treatment and prevention measures, with five stars.

More information about California health insurance.

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida (BCBSF) has introduced a new Medicare Advantage plan to its portfolio of health plans for seniors.

BlueMedicare Regional PPO joins a senior health insurance portfolio which already included HMO, PPO, Fee-for-service, Medicare Part D, and traditional Medicare Supplement Plans.

BlueMedicare Regional PPO is available across Florida for a $45 monthly premium.  Benefits include the ability for members to choose theit own doctors ans hospitals with no referrals required, as well as both in-network and out-of-network coverage.

More information about Florida health insurance and Medicare Advantage Plans.

According to the article “Medicare Advantage Premiums Expected to Rise 25% Next Year” by Jane Zhang for The Wall Street Journal online, premiums that seniors pay for Medicare Advantage are increasing.  This is mostly because insurance companies are cancelling many plans that carry no premiums in response to new federal guidelines. 

Humana Health Insurance Inc is setting up networks for its Private Fee for Service insurance plans and consolidating them next year.  Humana will have 149 Private Fee for Service Plans, which is down from 173 in 2009.  Humana made other changes such as the special needs plans which targets sicker people enrolled. 

The number of Medicare Advantage plans will drop by approximately 40% in total.  This is according to an Avalere analysis of Medicare data.  Some consumers will see their plans change dramatically and others will see their plans simply go away.  It’s important they are prepared for what changes may impact them directly.

Aetna has announced that they are discontinuing two Medicare Advantage Plans.  The first is being shut down because its membership dropped below the Federal requirement of at least 100 members.  It had 75 members.  The other is being phased out in all but 5 states due to a new Federal requirement that all fee for service Medicare Advantage plans be network based by 2011.

In similar news, Independence Blue Cross is terminating plans that current cover about 44,000 seniors.

If you have lost your Medicare Advantage plan, you can shop for replacement coverage here at healthinsurancesort.com

Seniors seem to love Medicare Advantage Plans.  In some areas, such as South Florida, 40% of seniors aged 65+ have enrolled in these plans for those eligible for Medicare. Nationally about 22% of seniors are enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans.

It isn’t hard to see why these plans are popular, many Medicare Advantage plans require members to pay no monthly premiums in addition to no deductibles or co-pays to see their doctors.

However, Medicare Advantage plans may become collateral damage of health care reform which is primarily focused on addressing the nations uninsured.  President Obama seeks to cut $177 Billion in federal payments to private health plans over the next decade in order to finance his plan for health care reform.  A large portion of these cuts to payments to private health plans will likely be in subsidies for Medicare Advantage Plans, which at the very least could mean a reduction in benefits and/or increased monthly premiums required by members.

In November of 2008, we published a series of posts breaking down the US News and report’s rankings of commercial health plans. Similarly, below are their rankings of the top Medicare health plans for 2008 based on the same criteria (consumer assessment, prevention, treatment).

1. Preferred Care
2. Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of Southern California
3. Geisinger Health Plan
4. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts
5. Security Health Plan of Wisconsin
6. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Rhode Island
7. Capital Health Plan
8. Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of Colorado
9. Capital District Physicians Health Plan
10. Tufts Associated HMO

More inforamtion about health plans for seniors, Medicare advantage plans, and traditional Medicare Supplement Plans.

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 an article written by Robert Pear of the New York Times, broad consensus among the Democrats on the redeployment of our country’s health care system is not far off.

Democratic leaders in both houses said they would indeed make health insurance mandatory, requiring  individuals to carry health insurance coverage and employers to help pay for it.  The question is, how will they raise the necessary tax revenue to support it?  On way that has been discussed is taxing employer health benefits.

In addition to making health insurance compulsary, the bill outlines yesterday would allow people to enroll in a governement run health plan similar to Medicare.  There are other suggestion being floated by Senate Democrats that would limit the scope of Government involvement, but would still create a plan to compete with private health insurance companies via a “Co-op”.

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.