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Grand Rounds at .Parallel Universes.

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Emeritus did a great job with the latest Grand Rounds over at Parallel Universes this week. One of my favorite articles of the week was from NHS Blog Doctor about the conflict of Hormone Replacement Therapy. The article itself was interesting, but the comments […]

Preventing Diabetes

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Now researchers in a long-term study have found that a healthy lifestyle followed for six years continues to lower the risk for developing type 2 diabetes for another 14 years. That’s a pretty impressive result. Here in Colorado, nearly 221,000 people have diabetes […]

Colorado HB1389 Passes House And Senate

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HB 1389, the Fair Accountable Insurance Rates Act of 2008, has passed the Colorado House and Senate, and is headed to governor Bill Ritter for his signature next month. Health insurance companies doing business in Colorado will now be required to get approval from the state before enacting rate increases, and will have to disclose… Read more about Colorado HB1389 Passes House And Senate

McCain Health Care Hangs States Out To Dry

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In Colorado, we’re lucky to have Cover Colorado available for uninsurable residents who do not have access to other coverage. At least our state has a high risk pool that is open to new enrollees and provides health insurance for people who would otherwise be uninsured. But it’s far from ideal. The policies are expensive and the out of pocket costs are higher than […]

Google Health Launches

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If their doctors could log onto the site and update it, allowing the other providers across Colorado and the world to keep abreast of what is being done for the patient, it could streamline the treatment process and allow doctors to work in unison instead of having to wait for records to be faxed or mailed from one office to another. I can see lots of potential for Google Health […]

Rescinded Health Insurance Policies Getting Reinstated

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I’m curious to see how the situation in CA will affect our health insurance industry practices here in Colorado. I firmly believe that health insurance companies should do their homework before approving a policy, and that once a policy is issued by the insurer and accepted by the member, it should be a binding agreement. I know that would cost the health insurance companies […]

More Regulation In Pharmaceutical Advertising

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…drug industry has launched a huge advertising campaign – next time you’re watching TV, see how many ads go by before you see at least one for a prescription. The Colorado Health Insurance Insider has addressed this problem before, and it seems that lawmakers are starting to notice the impact that TV advertising of pharmaceuticals is […]

Disclosure Of Gifts Made To Doctors

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At the Colorado Health Insurance Insider, we’ve made our position on the relationship between pharmaceutical companies and health care providers very clear. When pharmaceutical companies provide tangible benefits to doctors, hospitals, and universities, the lines between objectivity and bias become very blurred. And for patients without health insurance […]

Mixing Health Care And Capitalism

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At the Colorado Health Insurance Insider, we’ve written about the financial devastation faced by families when a high-priced medication is not covered by their health insurance carrier. But it seems that it would be even worse to not have the option to at least try to purchase the treatment on your own. These are people’s lives we’re talking about […]

Senate Starting To Address Health Care Reform

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Overall, I’d say that at the Colorado Health Insurance Insider, we agree with Donna Shalala’s thoughts on health care reform. Limiting benefits and restricting coverage to fewer people (which would be the result of an age increase for Medicare […]

Suture for a Living Has Grand Rounds

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I just noticed the latest Grand Rounds is up over at Suture for a Living.  Give it a look. The Colorado Health Insurance Insider got noticed because of the “Smoking Can Be Hazardous for Your Health” article and all of your great comments!

HWR at Medical Humanities

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…I’ll recommend his latest post about McCains health reform plan. In which, he points to the same article by Health Care Policy and Marketplace Review that Louise did in her article about pre-existing conditions and how it relates to Colorado health insurance.

Pre-Existing Conditions a Serious Issue For Health Insurance

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…in Colorado, Cover Colorado provides a reasonable coverage option, although many people find that the only deductible they can afford is much higher than they would like. But what about people who live in the 40% of states that don’t have a high risk pool? Or the ones who live in states where the high risk pool was financially swamped ages ago and hasn’t […]

Genetic Testing Anti-Discrimination Law

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InsureBlog made some good points last fall about the bill, and why it’s not really all that helpful. In terms of the small group market, I would agree, since small group plans are guaranteed issue, and in Colorado, the state has restricted insurers from increasing premiums for small groups based on medical history – regardless of how the medical information was obtained […]

Kaiser Permanente Provider Change for Boulder/Longmont Area

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Effective June 1, 2008, Boulder Valley Individual Practice Association (BVIPA) and the Longmont Clinic will no longer participate in the Kaiser Permanente Private Healthcare Systems (PHCS) provider network. PHCS is the provider network available to Kaiser Permanente Preferred Provider Organization (PPO) and Point of Service (POS) members in Colorado. Kaiser says […]

Smoking Can Be Hazardous To Your Career

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Whirlpool has suspended 39 employees for lying about tobacco use, and the employees could face termination once their cases are investigated by the company. At the Colorado Health Insurance Insider, we’ve written about wellness programs that are becoming more common among large employers, and about our disappointment that the DOL is starting to consider wellness… Read more about Smoking Can Be Hazardous To Your Career

50th Cav and Student Health Insurance

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These plans (even the ones not issued through MEGA Life & Health) offer the same misleading general information that most people don’t look much beyond – a low deductible, 80/20 coinsurance, copays for doctors visits and Rx, and even maternity coverage. Check out the plan information for Colorado State University (CSU) and Colorado University (CU) […]