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 the recent US News and World Report annual health plan rankings report, two health plans offered by Highmark ranked as being among the best health plans in the nation.

• SecurityBlue, HighMark’s Medicare Advantage HMO ranked #32 among Medicare Health Plans
• Among Commercial HMOs, Keystone Blue (offered by Highmark subsidiary Keystone Health Plan West) ranked 47th

Both of the above health plans were rated as excellent.

More information about:  Pennsylvania Health Insurance, Medicare Advantage Plans, HighMark BlueShield

US News and World Report recently released their updated health plan rankings for 2009-2010.  Their rankings of Medicare Health Plans was as follows, with 2008 ranking in parenthesis.

1. Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of Colorado (8)
2. Fallon Community Health Plan (Not In Top 10)
3. Geisinger Health Plan (3)
4. Tufts Associated Health Maintenance Organization (10)
5. Capital Health Plan (7)
6. MVP Health Care (Not in Top 10)
7. Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of Northwest (Not in Top 10)
8. Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of Southern California (2)
9. Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of Northwest (Demonstration Project) (NR)
10. Capital District Health Plan (9)

In 2008, Preferred Care was the top rated Medicare Health Plan by US News.  In this years study, they failed to make the top 10.  Kaiser Foundation Health Plans fared very well in the 2009-2010 study, with 4 of their regional plans being ranked among the top 10 plans in the country, with the Colorado plan occupying the top spot.

According to US News and World Report, Capital Health Plan, an affiliate of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida, is the top rated Medicare Health Plan in Florida.

Founded in 1982, Capital Health Plan serves the four county are surrounding Tallahassee.  They currently provide coverage to more than 110,000 members.

More information about Florida health insurance & senior health insurance.

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.

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.

After April 1, Medicare beneficiaries will be locked into their current plan through the remainder of 2009.  If you are enrolled in a Medicare health plan and unhappy with it, don’t procrastinate shopping for a new plan.

According to Paul Precht from the Medicare rights Center, below are the changes that can be made before April 1.

• A Senior who is enrolled in a Medicare private health plan with drug coverage (like an HMO or PPO) can switch to another Medicare plan that also offers drug coverage. They can also switch to “original Medicare” with a stand-alone drug plan.
• If someone has original Medicare with a stand-alone drug plan, they can switch to a Medicare private health plan with drug coverage. However, they cannot,  add or drop the Medicare drug benefit (Part D) and they cannot switch from one stand-alone prescription drug plan to another one. Most people with Medicare will not be able to change their health plan again until 2010.

More information about senior health insurance options