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About Jay Norris

Jay operates a health insurance brokerage in Colorado, where he helps individuals and small groups obtain and maintain health insurance coverage.
Complimenting his work as a health insurance broker, Jay is also a data analyst working to create visualizations that are easily understood by consumers and other stakeholders in Colorado’s health insurance market.

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Recent posts by Jay Norris
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Kaiser Permanente Announces Plans to Add Coverage in Fort Collins, Loveland and Greeley

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Yesterday, Kaiser Permanente filed for approval with the Colorado Division of Insurance to offer health care coverage in Northern Colorado beginning in late 2012. This expansion will include new Kaiser Permanente medical offices in Fort Collins, Loveland and Greeley, a contracted network of community providers and an exclusive hospital agreement with Banner Health hospitals and physicians. Technically, people in Loveland zip codes can already get coverage with Kaiser, but the closest facilities are in Longmont.

We don’t know yet if this expansion will include coverage for employer group as well as individual/family plans. For example, Kaiser has coverage in Colorado Springs, but only for employer groups. Individual/family coverage for Kaiser is limited to the south Denver metro area up through […]

Kaiser Permanente Colorado Gets Top NCOA Ranking

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Kaiser Permanente Colorado is the highest-rated private health insurance plan in Colorado and one of the top-ranked private health plans (#6) in the nation for clinical performance and effectiveness, as well as member satisfaction, according to new rankings by the independent, non-profit National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA).
Kaiser is one of the top 10 plans in the nation in 36 of the 40 health outcome measures, recognizing high quality clinical care

Walgreens Leaving Express Scripts Network

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If you’re insured through Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield or another carrier using the Express Scripts network, Walgreens will be leaving the network on January 1, 2012. Express Scripts just posted on their website:
“At Express Scripts, we’re committed to keeping your prescription drugs affordable and accessible. That’s why we negotiate cost-competitive agreements […]”
Express Scripts is sorry that Walgreens did what they did and has expressed sincere regret about the situation:
“We regret any inconvenience that Walgreens’ actions have caused you. If you have any questions, please call us at 1.877.885.3409.”

Accepting Grand Rounds Submissions

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We’re honored to be hosting the next Medical Grand Rounds on October 4th, our fourth time to host! Grand Rounds is a weekly gathering of the best health and medical articles written by doctors, nurses, students, patients, and others in health care related professions.

IRS 2012 HSA Contribution Limits

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The IRS announced that the contribution limit for an individual would increase by $50 in 2012, from $3,050 to $3,100. The family contribution limit is increasing from $6,150 to $6,250 (+$100).

The maximum annual out-of-pocket increased as well. The individual out of pocket maximum is going from $5,950 to $6,050. The family out of pocket maximum is increasing from $11,900 to $12,100.

The minimum deductible on an HSA qualified plan remained the same, $1,200 for individuals and $2,400 for families.

For more details about HSAs and HSA qualified plans, visit our HSA page.

Filed Under: HSA

United HealthOne Finally Changes Initial Charge Protocol

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Good news for those applying to United HealthOne:
Beginning with applications received on March 24, 2011, the processing of credit card or EFT payment will not take place until the application is approved and issued.
It’s about time. It was tough to explain to clients “and yeah, they’re going to charge you before they’ve even made a decision.”

Aetna Withdrawing from Colorado Individual Health Insurance Market

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Aetna no longer offers health insurance plans for individuals, families and the self employed plans in Colorado.  Their explanation: After reviewing our portfolio of Individual health insurance plans in Colorado, we determined we can no longer meet the needs of our customers while remaining competitive in the individual health insurance market. While this decision was not… Read more about Aetna Withdrawing from Colorado Individual Health Insurance Market

Humana 2011 Rates Are Official

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Clients in Colorado can now get quotes and apply for HumanaOne with effective dates of 1/1/2011 or later.  Remember, these will include maternity coverage as a base benefit.  Existing members with an Enhanced, Copay, HSA, or Value plan will receive these benefit changes at the time of their renewal. For clients who have an Autograph,… Read more about Humana 2011 Rates Are Official

Cigna 2011 Rates Are Live

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Cigna is quoting 2011 rates on their online quote tool. And our quote comparison engine is being updated right now and will be quoting Cigna soon. Click through to the article for links.

Grand Rounds Submissions

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We’re honored to be hosting the next Medical Grand Rounds on November 30th. Grand Rounds is a weekly gathering of the best health and medical articles written by doctors, nurses, students, patients, and others in health care related professions.

Please submit your favorite articles to Louise at louisen78 [at] gmail [dot] com before 10:00pm MST of November 29, 2010.

Please include the authors name, article title, url, and a brief description of the article.

This week, enjoy the first Grand Rounds to ever be hosted on Facebook by Amanda Brown DVM

Amendment 63 Defeated In Colorado Despite False Advertising

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Three states had ballot initiatives this week that attempted to outlaw the mandate in the PPACA that requires everyone to have health insurance starting in 2014. Colorado was the only state that did not approve the measure. Voters in Colorado defeated Amendment 63, which would have made it illegal for the state of Colorado to force people to buy health insurance. Even if it had been approved by voters, it would have been a symbolic measure, as the mandate requiring all of us to have health insurance coverage as of 2014 is a federal law, and thus supersedes state laws. […]

CBS Story Leaves Out Important Options For Kids

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[…] As I said, I have no knowledge of this particular family’s situation. But child-only policies have always been rare, and there is usually another option for those children to obtain coverage. They can be covered as a dependent on a parent’s policy (which can now include policies in the individual market), by Cover Colorado, or possibly by Medicaid or CHP+. Even situations like Thomas Wilkes, who was maxing out the lifetime caps, now has a solution because Healthcare Reform has removed lifetime maximums. There is a long way to go, and this situation is frustrating. But if you ever hear anybody say that they have no options to get their child covered in Colorado, please pass this information along. I hope that Mr. Serrano signs Maria up for some health insurance today, whether it is on a family policy with him, Cover Colorado, or CHP+. We should not be hearing anymore stories about uninsured children simply because their parents aren’t aware of the options available.

Quoting Blackout On Most Plans and Effective Dates

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Many plans with most carriers still haven’t gotten the rates approved past 9/23. These plans with carriers like Anthem BCBS can still be quoted with effective dates of 9/22 and before.
Carriers like Cigna only have 1st and 15th of the month effective date options. Therefore, rates and plans are not being quoted at all until the DOI approves their rates. Hopefully any moment.
Make sure to subscribe via email or follow us on Facebook for rate approval updates.

UnitedHealthOne Erroneous Email

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Yesterday, September 13th, UnitedHealthOne (Golden Rule) sent out an erroneous email to individual/family clients:

“Thank you for choosing a UnitedHealthOne Insurance plan. Payment is currently past due and your plan may be at risk of lapsing. In order to make a payment over the phone, please contact Client Services at 1-800-657-8205 or your broker […]”

If you call the client services number given, an automated message will play before the list of options:

“Please note, if you received an email on Monday about your premium, please disregard this as it is an error and we apologize for any inconvenience.”

IRS 2011 HSA Contribution Funding Limits

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The IRS has just issued Revenue Procedure 2010-22, which outlines the 2011 cost-of-living contribution and coverage adjustments for HSAs, as mandated under Code Section 223(g). The limits for 2011 are unchanged from 2010.
HDHP Minimum Deductible:
You must still have coverage under an HSA-qualified “high deductible health insurance plan” (HDHP) to open and contribute to an HSA. Federal law still requires that in 2011 the health insurance deductible be at least […]

Dentists Overprescribing Antibiotics and Avoiding Health Care Reform

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[…] MD Whistleblower had a couple good observations:
– Dentists prescribe prophylactic antibiotics (ATBs) with routine recklessness… Many dentists irrationally prescribe ATBs before teeth cleanings and other procedures.
– Not a syllable in the ~2000 page health care reform law that affects dentists.

Guest Blogger – Effects of Health Care Reform Legislation

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[…] Carol indicated that it was the consensus of everyone she has talked with that $5 billion won’t come close to covering the cost of these high-risk pools in 50 states for four years. She and a number of other Medicaid commissioners are leaning away from expansion or development of new high-risk pools in their states, not for political or philosophical reasons, but because the pools don’t make economic sense. As the federal bill is written, if states don’t act, a federal high risk pool is to be created to fill essentially the same function.

Health Care Reform Should Be Federally Driven

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[…] I feel fortunate to live in a state where we have a solid high risk pool (Cover Colorado) and lots of options for policies in both the individual and group market. But I can’t help but think of people who live in states where there aren’t any health insurance policies available to people who are sick and not covered by an employer’s plan. For them, health care reform on a state level has a long way to go, and might not happen at all.

How The Public Views Health Care Reform

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[…] The people who are hurting the most are those who purchase their own health insurance, and people who work for very small businesses that struggle every month to continue to pay the premiums to keep their policies in force. These people make up a relatively small percentage of the population, and their voices are being drowned out by all the people who don’t have to deal with the issues being addressed by health care reform.