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About Louise Norris

Louise Norris has been writing about health insurance and healthcare reform since 2006. In addition to the Colorado Health Insurance Insider, she also writes for healthinsurance.org, medicareresources.org, Verywell, Spark by ADP, and Boost by ADP, and Gusto. Follow on twitter and facebook.

Expanding Medicaid was the right move in the 80s and still is today

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When the ACA was signed into law almost five years ago (time flies!), one of its cornerstones was the expansion of Medicaid in every state, to cover everyone with incomes up to 133% of the poverty level (plus a 5% income disregard, which essentially makes the threshold 138% of poverty).  That was to be implemented… Read more about Expanding Medicaid was the right move in the 80s and still is today

Healthcare spending is 17% of GDP; we should expect it to be a major line item in household budgets

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This USA Today article by Laura Ungar and Jayne O’Donnell is well worth reading.  In a nutshell, it’s all about rising deductibles, and the impact they have on consumers’ ability to pay for health care.  The facts are sobering:  wages have been flat for decades, with the inflation adjusted average hourly wage only increasing by… Read more about Healthcare spending is 17% of GDP; we should expect it to be a major line item in household budgets

Open enrollment should continue into the new year – every year

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The deadline to get a January 1 effective date has passed in Colorado and in most of the rest of the country (in six states you can still enroll and get coverage effective January 1).  And that means that millions of people had their coverage automatically renewed on December 15. In the 37 states that… Read more about Open enrollment should continue into the new year – every year

Connect for Health Colorado glitch shows catastrophic plans to 30-year-olds

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SEE UPDATES AT THE BOTTOM OF THE POST Yesterday, while running quotes for a client who turned 30 a few months ago, we noticed that Catastrophic plans were showing up for him in the quoting tool on Connect for Health Colorado.  Catastrophic plans are a provision of the ACA, and are an extra level of… Read more about Connect for Health Colorado glitch shows catastrophic plans to 30-year-olds

Make sure to know about cost sharing reduction plan eligibility

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We’re more than two weeks into open enrollment now, and things are humming along – certainly compared with the first couple weeks of open enrollment last year.  In the first two weeks, the exchange has enrolled nearly ten thousand people, including renewals and new enrollees.  But keep in mind that the time frame is shortened… Read more about Make sure to know about cost sharing reduction plan eligibility

The five improvements I’d make to the ACA and its implementation

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It’s open enrollment time again, and happily, this one is certainly off to a better start than last year.  The downside is that there’s only a month between the start of open enrollment and the December 15 enrollment deadline for people who need their new coverage to be effective January 1 (this is the case… Read more about The five improvements I’d make to the ACA and its implementation

The skinny on Colorado health plan cancellations

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Earlier this month, Colorado Insurance Commissioner Marguerite Salazar sent a letter to Colorado’s Senate Minority Leader, detailing the upcoming policy cancellations in Colorado.  For 18,909 plan members, these policy cancellations are the result of a voluntary decision by the carriers.  For another 3,849 for SeeChange small group members, the cancellation is happening because California has… Read more about The skinny on Colorado health plan cancellations

Health Wonk Review – the falling leaves edition

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Welcome to the Falling Leaves edition of the Health Wonk Review!  Grab your pumpkin-flavored whatever and pull up a chair – we’ve got lots of good stuff from the health wonks this week.  The election is coming – don’t forget to vote! – and so is open enrollment, so there’s lots to talk about when… Read more about Health Wonk Review – the falling leaves edition

Colorado’s Senate Candidates Mark Udall and Cory Gardner on Contraceptives

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Mark Udall and Cory Gardner are in a tight senate race right now, and one of the issues that has come up in several ads is contraception.  Here’s what women in Colorado  need to know about the two candidates and how their positions would impact our access to contraceptives: Udall supports the ACA.  One of… Read more about Colorado’s Senate Candidates Mark Udall and Cory Gardner on Contraceptives

Weekend reading from the health wonks

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In case you missed this week’s excellent Health Wonk Review, be sure to head over to Managed Care Matters for a little weekend reading.  Joe Paduda has put together a great collection of health policy articles.  Healthcare reform has been heavily partisan for the last several years (decades, really – remember the Clintons’ efforts to… Read more about Weekend reading from the health wonks

Connect for Health Colorado getting more user-friendly

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Connect for Health Colorado has been one of the most successful exchanges in the country during the first year of operation.  The exchange had enrolled nearly 146,000 people in private plans as of the end of August, and Colorado’s uninsured rate dropped by six percentage points from the end of 2013 to mid-2014. But despite… Read more about Connect for Health Colorado getting more user-friendly

Weekend reading from some great health wonks

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Have you scrolled through the latest Health Wonk Review yet?  Billy Wynne hosted this week over at Healthcare Lighthouse, and his “Thank God It’s Recess” edition is excellent. A few articles were particularly interesting to me.  At the National Center for Policy Analysis, John R. Graham wrote about how the second open enrollment is going… Read more about Weekend reading from some great health wonks

Average rates only increasing 0.71% in the Colorado individual market for 2015

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The Colorado Division of Insurance released 2015 health insurance rates this morning, and things are looking pretty good.  The average increase across all carriers in the individual market is less than one percent:  0.71% to be exact.  We’ve been in the health insurance industry since 2002, and we’ve certainly never seen an average even close… Read more about Average rates only increasing 0.71% in the Colorado individual market for 2015

Summer Reading Program – learn something new about ACA implementation and gear up for open enrollment!

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Brad Wright hosted this week’s Health Wonk Review over at Health Policy Analysis – be sure to check it out.  Two of my favorites this time around are from Health Affairs and Healthcare Lighthouse. At Health Affairs, John Kingsdale and Julie Lerche have an outstanding piece on some upheaval that could cause headaches for consumers… Read more about Summer Reading Program – learn something new about ACA implementation and gear up for open enrollment!

Fixed Indemnity Plans – buyer beware; regulations begin soon

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In early 2013, we worked with a client shortly after he had received a sales pitch for what sounded like a very sketchy health insurance product.  We followed up on the issue, talking with an agent for the carrier in question, as well as the Colorado Division of Insurance.  At that time, full ACA implementation was still… Read more about Fixed Indemnity Plans – buyer beware; regulations begin soon

Bundled payments and other risky endeavors

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Jaan Sidorov of the Disease Management Care Blog did an excellent job with the latest edition of the Cavalcade of Risk.  There’s plenty of good reading there, so don’t miss it.  I thought one of the most interesting posts was from Dr. Sidorov himself, writing about bundled payments.  He makes some really going points, explaining… Read more about Bundled payments and other risky endeavors

Lost your job? Apply for Medicaid ASAP to have a qualifying event when you get another job

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Job loss and short periods of unemployment are a relatively common part of life.  But with the new open enrollment rules in the individual health insurance market, it’s important that people understand exactly how the system works in order to avoid finding themselves stuck without health insurance.  Recently we’ve had several clients in this position,… Read more about Lost your job? Apply for Medicaid ASAP to have a qualifying event when you get another job