Health Insurance Blog

The Early Show (CBS) ran a segment on Hazardous Health Insurance.  The plot of the segment was that with the growing number of uninsured in America, more and more people are purchasing individual health insurance, and according to a Consumer Reports story many of these individual health plans have major coverage gaps that can be hazardous to your health.

One of the major pitfalls that the Consumer Reports story pointed out was spending limits on vital care.  CBS medical correspondent Jennifer Ashton stated that you should make sure that your health plan covers everything including diagnostics, imaging tests, in-patient and outpatient care and rehabilitation.

Ashton also warned that health insurance premiums that sound too good to be true probably are, and advisies health insurance shoppers to read the fine print, as your enrollment in a health plan is a contract and the details are very important.

On St. Patrick’s Day, there will be a Tuscon health insurance fair to assist the local uninsured, reports the Arizona Daily Star. 30 insurers will be in attendance at the event, taking place in the El Rio Community Health Center.

People without Arizona health insurance (about 1 in 5 of the state’s population) will be able to take advantage of free health screenings, nutrition advice, and more. There will also be help in applying for affordable health insurance plans.

Yesterday, the Associated Press reported that Governor John Lynch is planning to allow adults from ages 19 to 25 to buy New Hampshire health insurance through the state-subsidized Healthy Kids insurance program. Healthy Kids was previously open to children under 18 only.

After a three-month waiting period, young adults earning individual incomes below 400% of the poverty level ($3,610 per month) and without access to parent- or employer-sponsored health insurance will be allowed to participate in the buy-in program. The economy’s current troubles make it less likely that this age group will quickly find jobs with medical benefits, making this measure even more urgent. Currently, around 22,000 young adults in New Hampshire are uninsured.

The exact cost of the health insurance premiums is being finalized, but the president of Healthy Kids expects it to be less than $200 per month, significantly more affordable than most individual health plans.

The Massachusetts health insurance mandate, passed in 2006 in an attempt at health care reform, is facing some unexpected challenges during this recession. Steve LeBlanc of the Associated Press says that increasing unemployment rates will make more people unable to fulfill the insurance requirement. Failing to buy health insurance will result in up to $1,000 in fines per tax year (taken from tax refunds), although the sentence is often waived. In 2007, only about 1% of the Massachusetts population did not buy health insurance, but experts predict that number will increase due to consumers focusing on other priorities.

While insurance is completely free for the poor and subsidizes plans for people making up to 300% of the poverty level, private individual health insurance can still be out of reach. The state does cover health insurance costs for as long as someone is collecting unemployment benefits, which helps those who have been laid off. However, the influx of new applicants to subsidized plans is expected to cost $800 million in the new fiscal year’s budget, an increase of $60 million.

Steve reports that some legislators believe the current law is unrealistic given current economic conditions and should be waived for the newly unemployed, but Democratic Governor Deval Patrick vows to continue the program and cut other spending to balance the budget instead.

Tough times are resulting in many people being laid off from their jobs, and losing their health insurance as a result. They may be unable to afford COBRA, but still need health care. In the Columbus Dispatch, an article highlights several actions Ohio doctors are taking to help their patients without insurance. Despite their generosity, it is important to regain insurance as soon as possible: do so before insurers will no longer be required to cover any pre-existing conditions you may have. 

Some doctors are creating monthly payment plans that charge as little as $5 for those in dire straits and lacking Ohio health insurance. If they have some rate flexibility, they are charging the lowest amount possible to the uninsured. A lot of medical professionals give poorer patients free samples of prescription medication, although the economy is causing drug manufacturers to cut back on that practice as well. Meanwhile, prescriptions of generic drugs are more common, because they are far more affordable for uninsured patients. 

The article also states that medical practices are assisting patients in applying for government assistance programs, such as those for children’s health insurance. 

(Photo credit: Lauren Nelson under CC 2.0)

The economic stimulus bill, which was recently passed by Congress and is expected to be signed by President Obama today, includes help for unemployed individuals who are struggling to maintain their health insurance under COBRA. The Los Angeles Times’  Melissa Healy notes that there have been a lot of questions swirling about the topic. Here is an FAQ:

Q: Who qualifies for a COBRA subsidy?

A: Anybody who 1) worked for an employer that is required to offer a COBRA health care coverage extension (some smaller employers aren’t), 2) earns under $150,000 as an individual or $250,000 for a joint tax return, and 3) was either laid off after Sept. 30, 2008 or is laid off between now and Dec. 31, 2009.

Q: How much does the COBRA subsidy cover?

A: The government will subsidize 65% of your premium, paid directly to your former employer.

Q: How long will this subsidy last?

A: It lasts for 9 months in total, including retroactive payments.

Q: What if i’ve been paying the entire COBRA premium myself?

A: In that case, you will be reimbursed for 65% of your premium dating back to Sept. 30, 2008; either in credit for future COBRA payments or a refund if you’re no longer enrolled. You will then have around 4 months left of subsidized COBRA health coverage.

Q: What can I do if I’ve been laid off and didn’t enroll in COBRA because it was too expensive?

A: Employers will be required to allow you another opportunity to sign up for the program.

Q: Do I have to provide proof of income to apply for COBRA?

No, but if it turns out that you make more than the upper limit, you’ll have to pay the subsidy back. 

I hope this post has answered some of your questions about COBRA health insurance.

(Photo credit: abraaten under CC 2.0)

While COBRA is helpful as individual health insurance to those who have been laid off, it is temporary and far more expensive than employer-sponsored health insurance, says Enhanced Online News. Even though the economic stimulus package proposes to pay up to half the cost of COBRA premiums for one year, one of several alternatives may be better suited to your health care needs. All of these options will ensure that you don’t experience a long gap in coverage.

If you expect to find a job with health benefits in the relatively near future, short term health insurance might be your best bet.

If you are generally healthy, high-deductible plans can help you save money on insurance while unemployed. They offer catastrophic coverage with lower premiums and few fringe benefits.

If you had family health insurance at your last employer, buying individual health plans for each member could actually be cheaper than buying a family plan on the open market. Children may also be eligible for enrollment in government-funded health programs like SCHIP.

No matter your situation, get health insurance quotes from various insurers; you may find a better deal than COBRA from another company.

(Photo credit: erik! under CC 2.0)

Judith Graham from the Chicago Tribune recently wrote about the Illinois Comprehensive Health Insurance Plan, and its coverage for those individuals unable to buy Illinois health insurance elsewhere. There is a cap on the number of people that can enroll (currently almost 6,000) in order to ensure that its costs are fully covered by state funding and its premiums, which can’t be higher than 150% of what a regular insurance premium costs in the market. This program is reserved for U.S. citizens and legal residents, and has a $2.5 million cap on lifetime benefits, according to Judith.

Currently, Illinois has about a thousand slots remaining in ICHIP’s traditional pool, so it’s worth looking into if you have unsuccessfully attempted to buy individual health coverage or suffer from certain chronic, uninsurable conditions including:

• Juvenile diabetes
• AIDS
• leukemia
• Parkinson’s disease
• multiple sclerosis
• cystic fibrosis

This program is different from the HIPAA plan, which is intended for those who have lost their employer-sponsored health insurance and exhausted their COBRA unemployment insurance.

COBRA health insurance coverage is becoming more and more out of reach for Americans who lose their jobs, according to a report by Families USA.   According to the report, Americans who become unemployed and receive unemployment benefits received on avg. $1,278 per month in federal benefits, COBRA health insurance coverage would devour more than80% of that to cover a family.  Needless to say, spending more than 80% of your income on health insurance doesn’t make sense, and doesn’t leave enough money behind for other basic family needs.

The full report from Families USA is online an can be found at www.familiesusa.org/resources/publications/reports/cobra.html.

for information about affordable health insurance plans as an alternative to COBRA.

Keith L. Martin of the Insurance and Financial Advisor just reported on a new proposal by Governor David Paterson regarding New York health insurance. He wants to expand health care coverage by mandating that health insurance companies cover policy dependents up to age 29, at the policyholder’s own expense. Currently, parents’ health insurance plans in New York state cover their children until they are either 18 if they aren’t enrolled in college, or 22 years old if they are.

This age group is at increased risk for being without health insurance: many 19-to-29 year olds are either unemployed and struggling to find jobs, laid off, or working in positions that don’t offer health insurance. Individual health plans are usually far more expensive than group coverage.

Paterson’s legislation will address those issues, in addition to possible provisions for any grandchildren of the policyholder. Keith says that this proposal is a step towards universal health care reform by controlling medical costs and including a large group of generally healthy people in the pool to spread risk. This demographic is a low-risk pool for insurers, but could have a negative effect on smaller employers.

(Photo credit: jimbowen0306 under CC 2.0)