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. 

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.

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

New details have been released regarding Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan’s plans for rate hikes. The insurer is requesting that the Michigan Office of Financial and Insurance Regulation allow them to increase their premiums. Changes BCBSM is requesting would have an impact on many people

• Individual health insurance policies would be, on average, 56% more expensive.
• An average cost increase of 31% would hit seniors with Medicare supplements.
• Group conversion plans, which are for individuals transitioning out of employer-sponsored coverage, would be set to increase by 42%.

Kevin Kingsbury from the Dow Jones Newswires reports that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services have forbidden WellPoint from adding new members to its Medicare plans. Compliance problems were discovered in separate audits.

As of January 13th, WellPoint is suspended from selling Medicare Advantage (hospital and physician coverage under a private plan) and Medicare Part D coverage (which covers prescription drugs).

Almost 2 million people have bought the company’s Part D coverage, while 3.7% (1.3 million) of their members are seniors on medicare. This suspension will be in effect until WellPoint fixes its undisclosed issues. The decision was a shock to WellPoint, since it have spent the past 6 months working closely with CMS to correct its errors.

A recent press release from HealthAmerica has announced that Advantra, the HealthAmerica Medicare Advantage plan, is ranked among the top 20 best Medicare and commercial health care plans in the 2008 “America’s Best Health Plans” list. Advantra was ranked #18 out of over 200 plans.

The survey was conducted by U.S. News & World Report and the National Committee for Quality Assurance. It consists of the Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (which provides standardized performance measures), as well as the Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers. The results are published in the November 17th issue of the magazine.

The HealthAmerica and Advantra plans scored above the national average on 15 measures of patient satisfaction and medical services (e.g. treatment of certain diseases, health care access, preventative care, and prenatal care covered by maternity coverage). The HealthAmerica health care plans also scored higher than the Pennsylvania state average on 12 of those measures.

(Photo credit: Waldo Jaquith under CC 2.0)