Amy Gillentine has written an article for the Colorado Springs Business Journal that points out many of the current concerns and confusion surrounding our health care system. When it comes to open enrollment for employer-sponsored plans, she sums it up clearly: Choosing among options for health insurance is often an emotional — rather than practical… Read more about Health Insurance Choices – Emotions Versus Reason
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Putting A Price Tag On Life
Self Magazine published an article in their October issue titled “How Much Is A Life Worth?” written by Roxanne Patel Shepelavy. The article is a detailed analysis of the cost of heavy duty cancer-fighting drugs, who pays, and who profits. Michelle Diekmeyer’s story is highlighted in the article, and it would make anyone cringe. She… Read more about Putting A Price Tag On Life
Colorado "Health Report Card"
While Coloradans tend to be healthier than residents of other states, senior citizens are faring better than the state’s children and infants, according to a study by the Colorado Health Foundation.The nonprofit foundation’s 2007 “Health Report Card,” released Wednesday, found that based on 40 health indexes: Colorado residents overall got a B-minus grade when compared… Read more about Colorado "Health Report Card"
Protecting The Insured
A few years ago, we had a client who completed an application for individual health insurance for herself, her husband and their child with a major Colorado health insurance provider. The application asked health history questions looking back over ten years, and she thought that she completed it accurately. The family was approved, and coverage… Read more about Protecting The Insured
Cavalcade of Risk Is Up
Take a look at the newest edition of the Cavalcade of Risk at Hill’s Personal Finance.
Obesity Ads Too Soft to be Effective
The Ad Council and the US Department of Health and Human Services are facing criticism that their ads against obesity are too soft, “namby-pamby” and wimpy to do any good. We’ve all seen the ads that show people finding lumpy-looking fat blobs here and there, and being told that they are love handles that someone… Read more about Obesity Ads Too Soft to be Effective
The Health of Colorado
The Colorado Health Foundation funded a report released yesterday that graded the health of Colorado citizens, and compared us to the rest of the nation. Overall, we’re not doing too badly – we are the thinnest state in the country, but then again, the bar isn’t set too high for that factor. And even though… Read more about The Health of Colorado
An Inappropriate Relationship
When you go to your doctor and leave with a prescription for a fancy new drug, how do you know that it’s really in your best interest? You don’t. An eye-opening new study shows that 67% of academic leaders at US medical schools and teaching hospitals have received some type of financial support from the… Read more about An Inappropriate Relationship
Open Mic – Claims Dispute
At the Colorado Health Insurance Insider, we’ve decided to start an “open mic” so our readers can express their views in an open forum. They’ll be able to get feedback from other readers and engage in discussions about Colorado health insurance topics. The opinions expressed in the “Open Mic” category do not reflect those of… Read more about Open Mic – Claims Dispute
An Over-medicated Country
For years, the United States has had the highest health care spending per capita of any country in the world. If all our citizens were bursting with health and living to be 95 years old, one could look at the spending side and say that it’s money well spent. But in fact our health is… Read more about An Over-medicated Country
Emotional Health Care Hearing in Fort Collins
On Friday, about 100 Fort Collins residents gathered at the Lincoln Center for an emotional hearing sponsored by the Blue Ribbon Commission on Health Care. More than 30 people got to address the panel about how to craft a health insurance program for Colorado. Most of those 30+ people that addressed the panel voiced support… Read more about Emotional Health Care Hearing in Fort Collins
Claim Denied? Here’s How to Appeal
Jim Flynn is an attorney in Colorado Springs, and he’s written a great article on the process of making an appeal if your health insurance company denies your claim. If a health insurance company denies a claim for the above stated reason, it must provide a written notice that includes a detailed explanation for the… Read more about Claim Denied? Here’s How to Appeal
SCHIP In Colorado
Although the recent votes on SCHIP in Congress were not completely divided along partisan lines, the vetoed bill to expand SCHIP by $35 billion was supported by far more Democrats than Republicans. From Colorado, Senator Wayne Allard, and US Rep Marilyn Musgrave, both Republicans, voted against the bill. And within the state legislature, there is… Read more about SCHIP In Colorado
Just Put it on the Credit Card – It’ll All Work Out
Democrats obviously haven’t thought far enough ahead about their plans to fund SCHIP. On the other hand, Senator Trent Lott has: “They fund it with a 61 cent a pack tax increase and say by the way, that will discourage people from smoking. That’s good. But the problem is if people do stop smoking you… Read more about Just Put it on the Credit Card – It’ll All Work Out
SCHIP – More Than A Political Debate
No big surprise – the president vetoed the SCHIP expansion bill yesterday. He’s made it very clear for weeks that he would veto the $35 billion expansion proposal from congress, and he prefers a $5 billion increase to the SCHIP budget (critics charge that $5 billion isn’t even enough to pay for the increasing health… Read more about SCHIP – More Than A Political Debate
Another Group Working To Fix Colorado Health Care
Representatives met today from several diverse groups in the Colorado health care sector, with a goal of reaching a bipartisan solution to the health care problems facing Colorado. The list of partners in the project is long and impressive, including Kaiser Permanente, the National Federation of Independent Business, the Service Employees International Union, the Colorado… Read more about Another Group Working To Fix Colorado Health Care
Humana Acquires CompBenefits
It’s not as newsworthy as when United Healthcare acquires a company like PacifiCare or AMS, or the “Don’t taze me bro” loser getting tazed. But I figure I should still mention the fact that Humana acquired CompBenefits today. http://www.compbenefits.com/news/100107.html CompBenefits is a dental and vision provider. So this should make Humana even more competitive in… Read more about Humana Acquires CompBenefits
Taxing Our Vices
The recent debate between congress and the president over expansion of SCHIP has mostly been in regards to the total spending increase. The president wants a $5 billion increase, while congress wants to increase the SCHIP budget by $35 billion in order to further expand the federal health insurance program. And it doesn’t appear that… Read more about Taxing Our Vices
Cavalcade of Risk is up
Investments and Loans hosted this weeks edition of the Cavalcade of Risk. Despite a lot of spam getting submitted, he did a great job of weeding it out and putting together an interesting article of posts strictly related to risk.
Blue Ribbon Commission Now Has Five Approved Drafts
Another draft of a proposal to reform Colorado’s health care system was approved on Monday by the Blue Ribbon Commission on Health Care Reform. That makes five proposals that have been approved for consideration so far. The Commission will recommend a final version of Colorado’s health care reform, hopefully within the next few months. The… Read more about Blue Ribbon Commission Now Has Five Approved Drafts
Lose Your Love Handles – $2 Per Pound!
It’s official – people will lose weight when money is the incentive. A new study involving 200 overweight employees at colleges in NC has shown that people lose more weight when promised a monetary reward for pounds lost. And not surprisingly, as the financial incentive goes up, more pounds are shed. At Colorado Health Insurance… Read more about Lose Your Love Handles – $2 Per Pound!
Should SCHIP Be A State Program?
Peter Ferrara has written an article encouraging President Bush to veto the SCHIP expansion plan that congress has proposed. The president is calling for a $5 billion increase in the SCHIP budget, while the House wants to increase the budget by $50 billion and the Senate would like to see a $35 billion increase. The… Read more about Should SCHIP Be A State Program?
Nearly One In Three Without Health Insurance In Colorado
At Colorado Health Insurance Insider, we have written many times about the number of uninsured Coloradoans. Turns out that there are a lot more people in that group than most estimates show. The US Census Bureau estimates that there are 758,800 people in Colorado without health insurance (this is the number that we typically see… Read more about Nearly One In Three Without Health Insurance In Colorado
Back to School with HWR
In a back to school version of the Health Wonk Review, Joe Paduda put together an easily readable collection of the best health care policy discussions in the recent health policy blogosphere. He started out with a collection of posts about “HillaryCare 2.0”, which was very interesting. And David Williams of the Health Business Blog always… Read more about Back to School with HWR
Colorado Health Care Reform Commission Out of Time and Money
The Blue Ribbon Commission for Health Care Reform was created last year by General Assembly, and was assigned the tough task of seeking solutions to the rising cost of health care in Colorado and the ever increasing number of people in Colorado without health insurance – currently about 780,000 people. In the last few months,… Read more about Colorado Health Care Reform Commission Out of Time and Money