Health Insurance Blog

According to the article “Overhaul of Health Care Bad for Seniors” by John Fanning on summitdaily.com, many senior citizens are losing their health insurance coverage in 2010 as many insurers have reduced medicare supplement plans or have increased premiums drastically. 

Many seniors are currently struggling to get by and paying for health insurance is just another worry on their plate.  If the current health care bill passes in Congress, advantage plans may be dismantled and seniors will need to find a prescription drug plan for MedicareD.  This can add an additional $25-$50 to the cost of their health care.  With many senior citizens living off of only social security this can be disastrous, especially since there is no SS increase for 2010. 

Over 12 million Medicare benficiaries are enrolled in Medicare Advantage Plans which represents 23% of the total Medicare population.  Many use Medicare supplement insurance as well.  Medicare pays about 11% more for a beneficiary to have a Medicare Advantage plan than for original Medicare on average. 

In yesterday’s Miami Herald, John Dorschner reported that Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida is now offering a discount card statewide for those without health insurance. For $20 per month, the new FamilyBlue card administered by Coverdell gives individuals discounts on routine medical expenses such as:

• prescription drugs and vitamins
• doctor visits
• dental, vision, and hearing care
• diabetes supplies

However, unlike individual health plans the card doesn’t cover hospital stays, which are most likely to lead to medical bankruptcy. Dorschner also wrote of problems surrounding doctor awareness about the program. Out of 10 approved providers for the FamilyBlue card, only one doctor accepted it when asked. Experts say these discount cards may be more suitable for young and healthy individuals less likely to need hospitalization.

CVS Caremark, a drugstore operator, has announced the launch of a new health discount program that will enable customers to get 90 say supplies of more than 400 generic maintenance drugs for as low as $9.99.

The Program called Health Savings Pass will cost $10.  In addition to receiving a 90 day supply for $9.99, customers will also receive 10% off if they pay cash at CVS MinuteClinics.  the Program is slated to begin on November 9th.

Health Savings Pass is designed to help the uninsured more effectively manage their health care costs, which is quite a challenge if you do not maintain health insurance coverage and you have expensive prescriptions that need to be filled each month.

Bloomberg.com reports that premiums for medicare drug coverage will rise more than 20% on average from 2008 to 2009.  This expected rate increase is on the heals of another 20%+ rate increase from 2007 to 2008.

Among the largest medicare drug plans, AARPs MedicareRx is increasing rates by 8% while Humana’s PDP Enhanced plan is raising premiums by 64%.

According to health insurance companies such as Humana, the volatility in premiums charged for these drug plans can be blamed on inaccurate forecasting of drug costs.  Humana’s PDP plan’s premiums have quadrupled since its inception in 2006.  While most senior citizens tend to stick with the same drug plan that they are already enrolled in, the volatility in prices has made it important for seniors to shop around for the best rate.  For 2009 there are nearly 1,700 government approved prescription drug plans, and every Medicare enrollee in the country (except for Alaska) has a plan available to them at a monthly cost of less than $20 per month.

Nationally, about 16 million Americans enroll in a standalone medicare drug plan such as AARPs MedicareRX, as opposed to obtaining drug coverage through a comprehensive health care plan such as Medicare Advantage.