The House voted last week to require health insurance companies to provide equal coverage for mental and physical health on policies that cover both types of illness. This is heralded as a big step forward by mental health advocates, but it will also place a strain on health insurance carriers, policy-holders who pay their own… Read more about Mental Health Coverage on Health Insurance Policies
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Newspapers Support "Free Market" Health Care Reform
I just came across an interesting article by Michelle Swenson at the Health Blog. The gist of the article is that the two major Colorado newspapers – the Rocky Mountain News and the Denver Post – consistently presented a skewed view of the health care reform proposals that were evaluated over the last year by… Read more about Newspapers Support "Free Market" Health Care Reform
Retirement And Health Care
A recent study by Fidelity Investments estimates that a 65-year old couple retiring in 2008 will need $225,000 set aside in order to cover medical expenses during their golden years. And yet 39% of Americans over age 55 have less than $25,000 in total retirement savings. This presents a troubling picture of the financial future… Read more about Retirement And Health Care
ChronicBabe Has Grand Rounds
You’ll see a brand new Grand Rounds hosted by Jenni Prokopy, founder and editrix of chronicbabe.com – a site for young women with chronic illness who strive to live well in spite of health-related limitations…to be babes!
Health Care For All
Does having health insurance guarantee that someone has access to health care? Not really. This article does an excellent job of comparing auto insurance and health insurance, and explaining how the health insurance industry hasn’t really been able to keep up with the changing face of health care over the last several decades. In addition… Read more about Health Care For All
More Transparency For Network Negotiated Prices
When Jay had an MRI on his knee last month, we were charged $1200. The EOB tells us that the Vail Valley Medical Center in Vail, Colorado, charges $1600 for the procedure. Our Humana health insurance has a negotiated rate of $1200, which is what we paid (we hadn’t met the deductible yet, so we… Read more about More Transparency For Network Negotiated Prices
They Should Have Just Paid For The Chemo
HealthNet in CA has been ordered to pay $9 million to an insured who had her policy canceled midway through treatment for breast cancer. The bulk of the award – $8.4 million – was punitive damages, which should leave health insurance companies all over the country feeling a little nervous. Patsy Bates got her HealthNet… Read more about They Should Have Just Paid For The Chemo
Grand Rounds and the Cav are Hot Off the Press
The latest issue of Grand Rounds is up at Science Roll. A post I found interesting was from Bob Coffield at the Health Care Law Blog about the pilot project between Google and the Cleveland Clinic. Also, check out the latest Cavalcade of Risk put up by the wise wench. That is where I noticed… Read more about Grand Rounds and the Cav are Hot Off the Press
Physical Therapy Expenses
We’ve started getting EOBs for Jay’s knee surgery, and I’m finding it very interesting to see first-hand what all these medical procedures cost. The anesthesia was billed at $1155, (our Humana network price was $748) and the initial physical therapy that was done on the first day after the surgery was billed at $637 (reduced… Read more about Physical Therapy Expenses
Without A Paddle
As health insurance brokers, we talk with people every day who have various pre-existing medical conditions. We go over options with them, although it’s usually a case of picking the lesser of two evils. I just read Kyla’s story about her family’s struggle to get health insurance for their little girl. She wrote more details… Read more about Without A Paddle
Ever Seen GoozNews?
GoozNews has the latest edition of the Health Wonk Review. There are lots of very interesting articles. And if you’ve never been to this blog before, browse around a bit and maybe even subscribe for a while. He writes some very good stuff. In one of the interesting (and timely) articles, Joe Paduda shows us… Read more about Ever Seen GoozNews?
If You Break It, You Buy It
I read somewhere recently that compliance with hand washing standards in American hospitals is less than 50%. That alone is enough to make me thankful that Jay and I have chosen a home birth for our baby this spring, but it also raises lots of questions about medical care in general. If something as simple… Read more about If You Break It, You Buy It
Medicaid Recipients More Likely To Be Diagnosed With Advanced Cancer
The American Cancer Society has released data indicating that uninsured Americans are 2.1 times as likely as those with private health insurance to have cancer initially diagnosed at an advanced stage. This shouldn’t come as much of a surprise, since people without health insurance tend to put off going to the doctor out of concern… Read more about Medicaid Recipients More Likely To Be Diagnosed With Advanced Cancer
Higher Medicare Drug Premiums For Wealthy Seniors
President Bush wants to charge wealthy American seniors more for their prescription drug coverage. In a plan that will be presented to congress for approval, the administration is proposing a premium increase for Medicare beneficiaries who earn more than $82,000/year as a single person or $164,000 for a married couple. The amount of the premium… Read more about Higher Medicare Drug Premiums For Wealthy Seniors
Health Insurance Covering Infertility Treatment
I wrote an article yesterday about how hard it is to get individual health insurance after you’ve had fertility treatments. We got a comment on the post that mentioned how ironic the whole thing is, considering health insurance almost never pays for the actual fertility treatment, even if you have coverage while you’re going through… Read more about Health Insurance Covering Infertility Treatment
Valentine’s Day Cav
I’ve Paid For This Twice Already hosts the latest Cavalcade – Is Love a Risk? Check out a very interesting article by Regulating Health Insurance – Should We Be Focusing on the Individual Health Insurance Market?
Health Insurance After Infertility Treatment
I just read a post by ForHealth about infertility treatment and individual health insurance. Her experience is one we’ve seen with some clients over the years. She went through fertility treatment – Clomid, in this case – which was unsuccessful. Three years later, she applied for an individual health insurance policy and was declined. The… Read more about Health Insurance After Infertility Treatment
Maybe The Big Picture Should Be About More Than Money
So it turns out that losing weight won’t save health care dollars. But it will make you live longer. A Dutch study has concluded that lifetime health care costs are actually higher for normal-weight, non smokers than for their peers who are obese or who use tobacco. But what about health care dollars per year… Read more about Maybe The Big Picture Should Be About More Than Money
Colorado Blue Ribbon Commission Report Finalized
The Colorado Blue Ribbon Commission for Health Care Reform made its final report to the Colorado General Assembly last week. The 176 page document was endorsed by 24 of the 27 diverse commissioners, and includes provisions that the Commission says will reduce the number of Coloradans without health insurance (currently 792,000 people) by 88%. The… Read more about Colorado Blue Ribbon Commission Report Finalized
Where Does The Rest Of The Government Stand?
Health care has become quite the buzzword in this election year, and will likely stay near the top of the political radar for the foreseeable future. Managed Care Matters has a very informative piece that breaks down the similarities and differences in the health care reform proposals of Senators Obama and Clinton. And The Health… Read more about Where Does The Rest Of The Government Stand?
Health Business Blog Hosts the HWR
It’s obvious David Williams of the Health Business Blog did a lot of reading lately because of a very well summarized Health Wonk Review. One of the articles that caught my attention: in contrast to the article from the Colorado Health Insurance Insider, Bob Vineyard of InsureBlog has some ideas about fixing the health care… Read more about Health Business Blog Hosts the HWR
Automatic Payroll Deduction For Health Insurance Premiums
I’ll preface this post by saying that Hillary Clinton is not my choice for America’s next president. But that doesn’t mean I don’t like some of her ideas. I just read an article that described her plans for enforcement of her proposal to make health insurance mandatory for all Americans. Garnishing wages of workers who… Read more about Automatic Payroll Deduction For Health Insurance Premiums
A Non-Profit Health Care System Would Be A Good Start
This article at the The Health Care Blog is well worth the read. The article maintains that preventive medicine and proper management of chronic health conditions are the keys to lowering overall health care costs in America, and that until we adjust our model of medicine as a fix-what’s-broken system to one of keep-it-working-in-the-first-place, we… Read more about A Non-Profit Health Care System Would Be A Good Start
Is Mandatory Health Insurance Really That Unreasonable?
The political catfight that always ensues during a presidential election year is well underway, and health care seems to be mentioned at every turn. Each candidate has a different view of how to fix the mess, although it’s hard to untangle true intentions from lobbyist influence and political alliances. One issue that has generated quite… Read more about Is Mandatory Health Insurance Really That Unreasonable?
Risk is Everywhere
The Digerati Life hosted a HUGE Cavalcade of Risk yesterday. It took me a while to get all the way through it. The Colorado Health Insurance Insider is included. Also, in the “Insurance and Risk Management” section was a good article by Consumers Health Insurance Blog about the Consumer Reports article “12 Money Mistakes that… Read more about Risk is Everywhere