[…] House bills 1273 and 1293 both generate discussion about what we can do to provide health insurance to the 800,000 people in Colorado who are without health insurance. I’m doubtful that HB 1273 will get much traction in its current form, but perhaps it will add to the dialog that is going on at the capital, and generate ideas that will lead to solutions for Colorado.
The Conscience Clause And Access To Healthcare
[…] Instead of requiring doctors to provide services that go against their moral beliefs, why not work to make sure that every community has providers who will perform a wide range of reproductive services? If clinics like Planned Parenthood get adequate funding, doctors practicing nearby could invoke the conscience clause without depriving the community of medical services.
Doctors and Patients and Healthcare Reform
[…] Our system doesn’t reward doctors who spend time with their patients. Instead it rewards doctors who see the most patients in the least amount of time (writing a prescription for an antibiotic is a good way to move patients along). Expecting change to come from patients isn’t fair. But it’s also not fair to expect change to come from the medical profession as a whole until we make some changes to how doctors are reimbursed for the services they provide.
Preventive Colon Cancer Screeing In Colorado
[…] The changes will go into effect on July 1, 2009 and will require all Colorado health insurance providers to cover preventive colon cancer screening for policy holders over the age of 50, and screening for younger policy holders who are considered at high risk for colon cancer. The legislation pertains to both individual and group health insurance policies. […]
Medical Home Pilot Program
[…] I’m curious to see what the outcome is for the IBM/United medical home pilot program. We work with United Healthcare here in Colorado, and are eager to see if United can come up with a program that would ultimately lead to lower healthcare costs (and thus lower health insurance premiums). If the pilot is successful, I imagine we’ll see other health insurance companies implementing similar medical home programs.
Same Sex Domestic Partner Coverage From Anthem
We’re pleased to report that Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield is now offering same sex domestic partner coverage on individual health insurance policies in Colorado. Many large group plans have been offering coverage for same sex domestic partners for a while now, but this hasn’t been the case in the individual health insurance market. […]
Expanding Health Insurance Coverage In Colorado
[…] Increasing the income limits and enrolling more people doesn’t require additional infrastructure or administrative changes. Working within our current framework, but with expanded enrollment, seems to be an efficient way of going about this process. It’s also probably the quickest way to actually get health insurance coverage to Colorado residents who need it.
New Ideas In Healthcare Cost Management
[…] spreading healthcare costs over a large population doesn’t do anything to lower the actual cost of healthcare, and might be seen as putting a layer of paint on a crumbling wall. I’m not quite as quick to discount this idea, although I agree with Jaan that more needs to be done than simply increase the number of people paying into the health insurance system.
Some Thoughts On Colorado HB1224
[…] I looked at premiums for $5,000 deductible HSA qualified policies from Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, Aetna, Assurant, Cigna, Humana, and United HealthOne. If lawmakers disallow the use of gender to determine individual health insurance premiums in Colorado, younger women and older men will have lower premiums, while younger men and older women will have higher premiums. There won’t be any actual benefit to the overall population – health insurance premiums will just be averaged for men and women.
Audits For Medicare Providers
[…] most doctors are trying to provide the best possible care for their patients and simply get paid for what they do. Medical billing is fraught with complications and headaches. To eliminate mistakes, it seems that making the billing system less complicated would be a better solution than audits. […]
Stimulus Aims To Help Laid Off Workers Retain Health Insurance
[…] The number of Americans without health insurance is already way too high. And since most people get their health insurance from an employer, the rising unemployment numbers were sure to drive the number of uninsureds higher. Hopefully the stimulus bill will help to mitigate the problem for at least the rest of this year.
Government Research And Health Care
[…] There are plenty of people who advocate a free market approach to health care, and are complaining that the government shouldn’t be allowed to dictate that a particular treatment isn’t cost effective. But private health insurance does exactly the same thing. They don’t pay for unproven treatments, and it wouldn’t make sense for them to do otherwise […]
Anthem Blue Cross Donates $1.6 Million In Colorado
The Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield Foundation and Anthem employees donated $1.6 million in 2008 to a wide range of organizations dedicated to improving health and wellness in Colorado. One of the recipients was the Colorado Coalition for the Medically Underserved, an organization that advocates for people in Colorado who are without health insurance. […]
COBRA Only Helps If You Can Afford It
[…] Most people just can’t afford COBRA premiums. In Colorado, unemployment hit 6.1% in December. I’ve seen conflicting reports about the stimulus bill and whether the final version will contain relief for unemployed Americans struggling to pay for health insurance. Without it, the number of uninsureds will likely be higher this year than ever before.
HB 1256 Not Really A Benefit To Consumers
[…] The Colorado Insurance Commissioner regulates the health insurance market in Colorado to make it as beneficial as possible for consumers. Opening the health insurance market to allow for out of state plans to be sold here in Colorado would mean that consumers might end up with lower quality health insurance products, regulated by another state’s rules. […]
Maybe A Chronically Ill Person Could Become President
[…] A presidential nominee with a chronic illness might very much appeal to voters looking for someone would would make health care reform a priority. The perspective of living with a chronic illness would likely make a president much more sympathetic to the 47 million Americans who have no health insurance and no realistic access to health care.
Daschle And Health Care Reform
[…] The millions of Americans who lack any type of health insurance and the ever-increasing cost of health care are issues that must be addressed. And unfortunately they’re going to have to be addressed during a time when money is squeaky tight. I imagine partisan politics and lack of money will be a far bigger hurdle for health care reform than Daschle’s withdrawl.
Tough Times For Health Care Reform
[…] everywhere I look these days, the outlook seems pretty bleak. I wonder how many of the optimistic ideas that were tossed about during last year’s campaign will be scrapped for the time being. Hopefully the people who don’t have health insurance (and all the people who are at risk of joining them) will not become a forgotten minority.
The Real Price Of Brand Name Prescription Meds
[…] If a rep presents a new med to a doctor, mentions that it’s a whiz-bang drug, and brushes the cost off by saying something like “it’s a brand name drug, but the copays on brand names are usually only about 20 bucks more than generics” the fact that the drug actually costs more per month than most car payments will probably not factor into the doctor’s prescribing decisions. […]
Women And Healthcare
[…] If you’re up for a little controversy, PalMD at White Coat Underground has written about conscience clauses that allow medical providers to refuse to to provide care if it conflicts with their personal beliefs. A very good point raised in the article and comments is that the conscience clauses tend to be invoked in matters of reproductive health. […]
Salaries For Healthcare Executives
[…] With other private industries, we have more of a choice in terms of quality, price, and whether we want the product in the first place. Somehow it doesn’t feel right that healthcare is set up just like all of our other industries, with executives making 7 and 8 figure salaries while millions of Americans are without health insurance and don’t have realistic access to healthcare at all.
Email It To Me
I am a big fan of The Office. Michael, Jim, Pam, Dwight… they thoroughly entertain me every Thursday night. Michael isn’t known for his stunning wisdom, but last week there was an exchange between Michael and his boss David that deserves to be shared: David Wallace: I’ll fax over some of the things we’re looking… Read more about Email It To Me
Customary Charges Are Not Always Reasonable
[…] Pricing varies from one provider to the next; negotiated reimbursement rates vary within a single health insurance network; patients often don’t know what the price will be until after the fact. And as David Williams pointed out, the prices are often far from reasonable. We can’t do without healthcare, and that’s why unreasonable “reasonable and customary” charges exist.
Health Insurance And Clinical Trials
Diane Primavera, our local Colorado state representative from Broomfield, has proposed a bill that would prevent health insurance companies from canceling policies of insureds who choose to enroll in clinical trials of experimental treatments. We appreciate Primavera’s healthcare reform efforts for Colorado. […]
Health Insurance More Important For Humans Than Pets
[…] But before any state starts mandating that shelters and pet stores provide pet insurance information to customers, we should probably focus on making sure that people know how to qualify for Medicaid and SCHIP, and are automatically provided with information about eligibility for human health insurance.