Immediately after the State of Colorado contracted with Lewin Group to review the 208 commissions proposals on the future of health care in Colorado, Lewin Group was bought out by United Health Group (UHG). UHG is the largest provider of health insurance in Colorado, and is now also an “independent auditor” in charge of reforming… Read more about Blue Ribbon Commission Corruption
Blog
Compare Rx Pricing Online
Bob Vineyard of InsureBlog gives us a good reason to shop around for where you fill your prescription. He also provides several good links where you can do your shopping. Check out his post called “Drive a Little, Save a Lot.”
The Power of Health Policy Blogs
Managed Care Magazine has a well written article by Alan Adler from Independence Blue Cross about the power of blogs in the health care policy discussion.
The Real Risk of an HSA
A health savings account, or HSA, combines a high deductible health plan with a tax-favored savings account. Assuming there is transparency, as the Colorado Health Insurance Insider recently tested for, HSAs would encourage people to shop for health care just as they would for a new television or car. The HSA concept allows the free… Read more about The Real Risk of an HSA
Tax and Spend
Colorado Representative Tom Tancredo criticized the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) bill because, “it removes a requirement that children in the plan show proof of citizenship.” Again, the Democrats have proven their loyalty to illegal aliens over American citizens, Tancredo said. Sounds logical, right? We don’t want children of illegal immigrants taking advantage of… Read more about Tax and Spend
Past Averages Do Not Predict the Future
I just read a blog post by Dani at Living Behind the Curve. She writes about her thoughts on going without health insurance in order to work part-time. Initially, she goes looking for individual health insurance, but talks herself out of it for several reasons. The policy has a $5000 deductible, and Dani calculates that… Read more about Past Averages Do Not Predict the Future
Check Out the Latest Health Wonk Review
Bob Laszewski spent some valuable vacation time in HI putting together the latest Health Wonk Review. He included a post from the Colorado Health Insurance Insider about how dealing with health care providers without the assistance of an insurance company is like dealing with the mafia. And a good one to check out is from The… Read more about Check Out the Latest Health Wonk Review
MEGA Story Left Out of SiCKO
Another family that was scammed by MEGA because of an agent leaving out important details of their policy, like “it’s actually not really going to cover anything”, almost had their story told in the movie SiCKO. However, the story was cut from the movie. When they were cut from the film, Hesper Main said that… Read more about MEGA Story Left Out of SiCKO
How Unfortunate for Me
Note: This is the fifth entry on my experience with transparency in the US health care system. See the first entry here, the second entry here, the third entry here, and the fourth entry here. I just got off of the phone with Boulder Valley Center for Dermatology. So far, they’ve agreed to give me… Read more about How Unfortunate for Me
SCHIP Too Much?
Colorado business and health leaders have banned together to get health insurance for every child in Colorado and the country. President Bush is asking Congress to authorize $5 billion over the next five years for SCHIP (State Children’s Health Insurance Program), which is designed for the children of working class parents. Congress says that amount… Read more about SCHIP Too Much?
Cavalcade of Risk at The Sentinel Effect
The Cavalcade of Risk is up over at The Sentinel Effect. Richard has done a great job organizing so many posts. Take a look around the rest of the blog while you’re there. They write some unique, thought provoking stuff.
Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness
Angelina Ortiz’s family income must not exceed $41,304 annually. If it does, she and her brother would no longer qualify for Colorado Childrens’ Health Plan Plus, and the family would be forced to pay $1200/month for Angelina’s lifesaving medications. Her condition? Asthma. The ubiquitous respiratory ailment that can range in severity from a minor tight-chested… Read more about Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness
Health Wonk Review – July 12, 2007
The Health Wonk Review is THE top health policy roundup in the blogosphere. It’s known for only including the best and brightest, and only the keenest observations of the health policy community. The collection of articles below represent the cream of the crop of recent entries in the ongoing US health care policy discussion. I’m… Read more about Health Wonk Review – July 12, 2007
Humana Says the Price is a Secret
Note: This is the fourth entry in my price transparency experiment. See the first entry here, the second entry here, the third entry here, and the fifth entry here. Jay has written several times over the last month about his lipoma surgery and the billing headache that it has become. When we got the bill… Read more about Humana Says the Price is a Secret
Enron Health Plan
With all the talk of universal health care lately, the most popular jab against it is to point out how inefficient the government is at running anything. Example: Katrina and FEMA. First of all, it’s been all to easy to point out incompetence in every government agency for the past 6 years. From Brown being… Read more about Enron Health Plan
I’m A Patriot – You’re A Terrorist
“Now with 50% more love for America“, over my med body played host to the Medical Grand Rounds this week. He did a great job! Keeping with the patriotism theme, I stumbled on a post from InsureBlog about Medical Terrorism. I thought Bob would be talking about the doctors that committed acts of terror in… Read more about I’m A Patriot – You’re A Terrorist
The Freedom of Individual Health Insurance
She said she realizes that the money they’ll be saving on their health insurance now is much greater than what she would have saved by having the group insurance through her employer for the 2 years she worked there. And the freedom it gave her and her husband is priceless.
Testimonials
We know we’re not perfect. Who is? And we want to constantly improve what we do and how we help you with your insurance needs. Consequently, getting honest testimonials and feedback from our customers is important to helping us serve you better. Most importantly, we don’t sell your name or email address. (privacy policy) During… Read more about Testimonials
I Got the Bill
Note: This is the third entry in my experiment with price transparency in the US health care system. See the first entry here, the second entry here, the fourth entry here, and the fifth entry here. I finally got the bill for the surgery (pdf). It was quite high compared to the estimate I received…. Read more about I Got the Bill
It’s All About Inspiration
Grand Rounds is up at the Wandering Visitor. She made the theme “things that inspire you”. She got over 3 dozen posts. I think you’ll find the inspiration to read what medbloggers find inspiring themselves. Enjoy!
What is a Copay?
First of all, a plan with copays is usually going to be a waste of money. A copay is a dollar amount the health insurance company has specified that you’ll pay for either doctors visits or prescription drugs. A typical plan will have $25 doctors visit copays and $15 copays for generic Rx and $30… Read more about What is a Copay?
Cavalcade of Risk
Julie of the Workers Comp Insider has put together a good collection of risk related posts in the latest edition of the Cavalcade of Risk. Check it out…
Diabetes – An Ounce of Prevention
“We are spending as much on diabetes as we are on the entire Department of Education.” That statement, from Dana Haza, a senior director for the National Changing Diabetes Program (NCDP) is an eye-opener. The numbers are staggering. 12% of the government health-care budget in 2005 was spent on treating diabetes. And a recent study found… Read more about Diabetes – An Ounce of Prevention
Anthem Blue Cross Leads The Way
Over the past couple years, I’ve made a push to eliminate bigotry from the Colorado health insurance market. My main focus has been to persuade Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield of Colorado into making those positive changes first. They’ve got the biggest market share of the Colorado individual and small group health insurance markets, so… Read more about Anthem Blue Cross Leads The Way
Health Wonk Review at Health Business Blog
You’ll find an interesting Health Wonk Review over at the Health Business Blog. I enjoyed the article from Michael Cannon at Cato@Liberty: Michael was able to negotiate 50% off his MRI bill. He had to do it because he has a high deductible HSA qualified health insurance plan and was paying out of pocket. This… Read more about Health Wonk Review at Health Business Blog