Health Insurance Blog

Houston, Texas elected a new mayor earlier this month named Annise Parker.  According to the article “Houston Is The Largest City to Elect Openly Gay Mayor” by James C. McKinley on NYTimes.com, voters gave a solid victory to this openly gay woman.

There are some smaller cities that have elected openly gay mayors, but this is the largest city in history to do so.  Her success came in a conservative state which makes the victory that much more historic.  Many Houston residents believe this is a huge step forward for the city as diversity is embraced.

Ms. Parker has a challenging job ahead as she faces many important issues such as Houston health insurance.  With Texas suffering from a very high rate of uninsured residents, it’s important that elected officials of major cities such as Parker, make health insurance reform a top priority.  With health insurance weighing heavily on the government’s agenda, health insurance quotes may change noticeably in the coming months.

Texas insurance consumer advocate is looking to get rid of the blanket authority of health insurance companies to decide what their policies will cover according to the article “Texas Consumer Advocate Wants Ban on Health Insurers’ Blanket Clauses” by Terrence Stutz on DallasNews.com.  This would cause a big impact on individual health insurance in Texas.

Deeia Beck, the Public Insurance Counsel, asked the state’s insurance commissioner to stop provisions present in many health insurance policies, called discretionary clauses.  This gives health insurance companies the freedom to decide what benefits will get paid.  The health insurance industry strongly opposes this type of change being made.

There are currently 22 states who have banned this clause, and Texas may be next.  Insurance Commissioner, Mike Geesline, has held a hearing to consider whether or not to move forward with this proposal.  The National Association of Insurance Commissioners has urged its members to stop this practice.

There are about 6 million uninsured Texas residents according to the article “Jason Roberson nominates uninsured Texans, whose staggering health care costs affect us all” by Jason Roberson on The Dallas Morning News.

Texas continues to lead the nation in the percent of uninsured residents, with about one out of every 4 Texans walking around uninsured.  For Dallas health insurance, about 36% of residents under 65 will be uninsured in 2010 according to the state demographer.  The uninsured cost a lot of money as well.  Care for the uninsured in 2005 was about $4.6 billion and for 2010 it’s projected to cost about $6.5 billion according to the Texas Association of Health Plans in Austin.

This cost is paid in part by the insured residents.  For 2010, Texans and Texas employers pay $1800 pre family and $630 per individual in higher health insurance premiums to help cover the uninsured according to The Center for American Progress.  Higher hospital costs which are generated by expensive ER visits by the uninsured drive up health insurance costs for employers which in turn causes them to drop health insurance benefits for their employees.  This just adds to the number of uninsured as the vicious cycle continues.

According to the article “Health care: Dose of Uncertainty” by William Pack on mysanantonio.com, small business owners in San Antonio are uneasy about the possible shift of the health care system.  There is an angry attitude from small business owners towards the possibility of health care reform.

For the past years, small business owners have been demanding health insurance changes to decrease costs and help them remain competitive against larger competitors.  San Antonio health insurance may end up being more expensive with more mandates and fewer benefits with reform and hurt small business owners.  But government officials believe that the $1.1 trillion health care plan will bring health insurance costs under control for smaller businesses.

The bill produced by the House claims that they will reduce the number of uninsured people by 34 million over the next 10 years and would end the exclusion of people with pre-existing conditions as well as the dropping of ill individuals.  And mandates are designed to expand the risk pool so costs will drop.  It is still to be determined if fears are warranted, but small business owners who cannot afford to offer individual health insurance now are not confident.

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas gives some great information on Medicare Supplements on their website.  Having Texas health insurance or Medicare often isn’t enough to cover you in the case of medical treatment.

The article on BCBSTX’s website outlines a summary on medicare supplements.  As more people know, Medicare is a federally run program which helps older Americans and some disabled Americans cover the costs of health care.  Unfortunately, Medicare does not cover all medical costs and this is where supplement insurance can come in very handy. 

Even with full Medicare coverage many are still responsible for other health care charges such as hospital deductibles, copayments for hospital stays over 60 days, care in a skilled nursing facility after 20 days, and a portion of doctor bills or other medical expenses.  Medicare supplements fills in the gaps between what your health care costs and what Medicare is covering.  Medicare supplement insurance, by law, is standardized into 12 plans and can get complicated.  To learn more and see if you qualify, visit BCBSTX’s website.

This Monday, health officials in Dallas reported the 17th death linked to the H1N1 virus in Dallas County according to the article “Dallas County Reports 17th H1N1 Death” by WFAA.com staff on that website.  A 51 year old man with an underlying health issue passed away recently and was infected with H1N1 according to Dallas County Health and Human Services.

The health department has been urging everyone to get the H1N1 vaccine to protect themselves from getting severely ill.  The county has administered around 10,000 vaccines to residents without Dallas health insurance last week and they now have ran out.  There is no word yet when it will be made available. 

There are certain people on a priority list to get the vaccine.  These include pregnant women, health care workers, people who care for babies under 6 months old, and those between 6 mos and 24 years old and those 25-64 with health conditions.  Many are frustrated that there has been such an emphasis on getting the vaccine, yet it is challenging to find the vaccine in many parts of the country.

As of November 9th, the alleged shooter in the Fort Hood massacre is conscious and talking according to the article “Alleged Ft. Hood shooter awake and talking at San Antonio hospital” by Jpost.com Staff.  The source was a spokesperson for Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, TX.

The spokesperson also stated that Nidal Malik Hasan, the alleged shooter, is currently the one and only suspect in the shootings that occurred at the US Army base in Fort Hood and killed 13 people while wounding 29.  We was taken off the ventilator Saturday and has since regained his consciousness. 

He was taken down by a civilian police officer, Kimberly Munley, during the event.  Currently, his condition is stable and being taken care of by the San Antonio hospital. 

Learn more about San Antonio health insurance.

Effective Dec 31 2009 Unicare will be leaving the Texas health insurance marketplace.  The 180,000 current customers will be offered health insurance coverage by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas (BCBSTX) which similar the what members have with Unicare in both price and benefits.

Although details haven’t been made available, replacement coverage may also be made available for dental, life, vision and disability coverage.

More information about health insurance in Texas.

Dallas County will lead the state of Texas in the percent of kids without insurance according to the article “Dallas County Leads State In Uninsured Children” by Jason Roberson on dallasnews.com.  The rate of uninsured children in Dallas County is about triple the national average based on the report released by The Children’s Medical Center Dallas.

This is a statistic that is very upsetting for residents.  More than half of the 730,000 kids in Dallas County do not have full access to preventative health care.  The report, called “Beyond ABC: Growing Up in Dallas County”, uses state demographic data from 1998-2008 to research the well-being of resident children.

Dallas health insurance isn’t necessarily difficult to find, but families are having difficulty affording rising premiums.  Children’s and other hospitals support the initiative to get all children insured because it places them in the care of a regular doctor and eliminates expensive visits to the emergency room.  This can prevent the mounting of debt for hospitals.  31% of Dallas County children will be uninsured by 2010 unless something is done. 

A prediction has been made by the president of the American Hospital Association in San Antonio last Wednesday according to the article “Hospital Leader Sees Health Care Bill Passing” by Don Finley on mysanantonio.com.  The president, Richard Umbdenstock, believes some sort of health reform bill will pass before Congress leaves for the December holiday. 

This could mean big changes for San Antonio health insurance.  The bill that passes will not be perfect but it will bring some value.  Umbdenstock noted that half of US hospitals are losing money and 25% are breaking even.  These groups are concerned about a government run plan taking over as they may lose even more money.  Back in June, hospitals agreed to give up about $155 billion in federal payments over the next ten years.  In return for this loss, a plan would be put in place to ensure 94% of US residents would have health insurance.  This would reduce their losses from the uninsured by about $171 billion.

A few weeks ago the health insurance industry released a report stating that the Senate bill would increase premiums for people with private insurance.  They did agree to change the ways in which they conduct business such as covering people with pre-existing conditions in return for the requirement that everyone must purchase health insurance.