Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield health insurance recently announced the expansion of their HMOSelect network in Colorado to Elbert, El Paso and Teller counties effective November 1, 2006. What this means For cost-conscious Small Group employers, there’s bound to be an HMOSelect plan that fits their unique needs. These employers can make the most… Read more about Anthem Blue Cross of Colorado Small Group Health Insurance News
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Health Insurance For All Colorado Citizens by 2010
America’s health system is breaking down and health costs are increasing more than five times the earnings increase for Colorado workers. HSAs were introduced in 2004 as a way to cut down on over-utilization, but they aren’t gaining wide acceptance, they don’t really help the problem anyway, and they won’t work. But there is a more progressive… Read more about Health Insurance For All Colorado Citizens by 2010
Mullets, Cotton Candy, and Ringtoss…
Yup, it’s carnival time! Yesterday, Emily of The Antidote hosted a very well written Grand Rounds. She included Louise’s article “Wasting Health Care Dollars”. She comments… Colorado Health Insurance Insider bemoans the waste of money from “routine” childbirth procedures like episiotomy (no longer recommended as a routine procedure, by the way) and unindicated cesarean sections…. Read more about Mullets, Cotton Candy, and Ringtoss…
Don’t Confuse Generic with Brand Name
Since Wal-Mart rolled out their $4 generic prescription program in Colorado, I’ve talked to several people who said they don’t need a policy with prescription coverage “because Wal-Mart has $4 prescriptions now“. The $4 prescriptions at Wal-Mart were such big news, I don’t think the message got through in the media that generics weren’t that expensive… Read more about Don’t Confuse Generic with Brand Name
A Healthy Employee Is a Good Employee
It seems that every day we hear more bad news about health, obesity, sedentary lifestyles, healthcare costs, and uninsured Americans. I just read a great AP article about employers who are doing more than just talking about improving the health of their employees. From loaning bikes to employees to making nutritious food more affordable in… Read more about A Healthy Employee Is a Good Employee
How Do You Like Your HSA?
I haven’t actually kept any statistics, but a lot (maybe half) of our Colorado health insurance clients that I talk to with HSA qualified high deductible health insurance plans haven’t opened up a health savings account to go with it. They usually say they got the plan because it was just one of the cheapest… Read more about How Do You Like Your HSA?
HSAs Wont Cleanup the Waste
After writing about how health insurance invites waste, I came upon an article Ezra Klein wrote about the fact that even HSAs won’t help slow that waste. He makes a good point because the total exposures are usually the same. But once the out-of-pocket maximum is met, there is nothing to slow the wasteful spending… Read more about HSAs Wont Cleanup the Waste
For Health Wonks Only
Michael Cannon has put together a great Health Wonk Review over on Cato at liberty. He does a great job commenting and describing each post so you’ll have an easy time deciding which articles suit your interest.
Health Insurance Invites Waste
What if you had supermarket insurance and 20% was the most you would pay for any item you bought? Would you be as choosy about what you buy as you are now? Would you care as much about price? If you didn’t care as much about price, would the supermarket have an incentive to keep… Read more about Health Insurance Invites Waste
How To Save on Health Insurance in Colorado
1. Get quotes from multiple Colorado health insurance companies Premiums for health insurance in Colorado can vary greatly, sometimes as much as 50% for similar plans. When comparing plans, be sure to look at the benefits as well as the monthly premium. Make sure your plan provides adequate catastrophic coverage, preferably at least two million… Read more about How To Save on Health Insurance in Colorado
The Healthcare Battleground
The rapidly rising cost of health care has taken a toll on the relationships between hospitals and insurers. The suspension of the agreement between HCA and United HealthCare in Denver garnered national attention this fall as the two health care big-dogs struggled to work out their differences. Rather than harmoniously working towards a common goal… Read more about The Healthcare Battleground
Wasting Health Care Dollars
My best friend is an emergency room nurse at a large hospital in Denver, Colorado. In the past two months, two of her friends have given birth. One is a fellow nurse, and the other a dentist. Both have a solid knowledge base in medicine, and had thoroughly researched pregnancy and childbirth. Both women wrote… Read more about Wasting Health Care Dollars
A Legal Scam
After David and Darlene Henderson had more than $210,000 in hospital bills, their health insurance company only paid $33,428, leaving more than $180,000 for the Henderson’s to pay by themselves. For $400 a month, the couple said, the Mega agent told them that they could have a catastrophic group health insurance policy that would cover… Read more about A Legal Scam
Doctor Anonymous Hosts Grand Rounds
This week, Doctor Anonymous gives us a peek into each article by quoting a good chunk of his favorites and explaining a little about the best of the rest. The Colorado Health Insurance Insider made the best of the rest with Louise’s article on sending healthcare overseas. There were a few other articles that the… Read more about Doctor Anonymous Hosts Grand Rounds
Guaranteed Issue Health Insurance
I just found a post on a financial blog, punny money, that is a review of a book dedicated to helping people lower their health care costs. It sounds like a good book, with in-depth analysis of the financial ramifications of which health plan you choose and how you use it. I had to laugh when… Read more about Guaranteed Issue Health Insurance
The Logical Insurance Salesman Has Skinny Kids
I was recently talking to a Colorado client about her husbands health insurance options. She had the option of adding him to her group plan for $415 per month. They had been shopping all over the internet for an individual health insurance plan and had decided that they wanted the most comprehensive plan available and… Read more about The Logical Insurance Salesman Has Skinny Kids
Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield Now Has Rating Areas
Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield of Colorado used to be the only company with one rate grid for the entire state of Colorado. That’s not the case anymore now that they’ve released their rates for 2007. Anthem’s number crunchers have come up with four sets of rates for Colorado, based on the cost of services,… Read more about Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield Now Has Rating Areas
Families Feeling the Squeeze
Current predictions are that health care costs could rise by at least 10% in 2007, further straining an already stretched market. The part of the article that I found most interesting was that studies show that Americans spent about the same portion of their annual budget – 6% – on health care in 1960 that… Read more about Families Feeling the Squeeze
IRS Issues 2007 HSA Contribution Limits
The IRS just announced the HSA limits for 2007. The maximum HSA contribution (not including catch-up contributions) will be $2,850 for self-only coverage and $5,650 for family coverage in 2007. Additionally, the maximum out-of-pocket expense—including deductibles—that employees with single coverage can be required to pay will rise to $5,500, up from $5,250 in 2006, and… Read more about IRS Issues 2007 HSA Contribution Limits
Back To Reality
Sorry about the lack of posts over the last few weeks. Louise and I haven’t been in Colorado since October 23’rd because we were on vacation. We were still able to keep up with all of our health insurance clients by helping get claims paid, solving billing problems, and helping them compare alternate plans. But… Read more about Back To Reality
Battling Prescription Drug Prices
Rising pharmaceutical costs has been an issue in healthcare for quite some time. Television advertising for prescription drugs has resulted in more patients demanding that their doctors give them specific prescriptions, even if something else -or nothing at all – may work better. This practice has been widely criticized, but is showing no signs of… Read more about Battling Prescription Drug Prices
Sending Healthcare Overseas
It probably won’t suprise anyone to learn that US businesses are looking into the possibility of sending employees overseas for medical treatments that tend to be costly at home. Afterall, US businesses have been outsourcing production and customer service overseas for years. So far, only a handful of employees have been sent overseas by their… Read more about Sending Healthcare Overseas
Being Held Accountable
This is a follow up to our last post about how obesity has a huge impact on health care usage, and therefore contributes heavily to skyrocketing health insurance premiums. Most Americans with health insurance get their coverage through their employers. Group health insurance through an employer is required to cover all qualified employees, regardless of medical history. … Read more about Being Held Accountable
Why is the Cost of Health Insurance Rising So Fast?
When people try to explain why health insurance premiums are rising so fast, the common explanation you’ll get is that the cost of healthcare is rising. And, yes, this does have something to do with the reason health insurance premiums are increasing. But it’s not the reason health insurance premiums are so out of control. … Read more about Why is the Cost of Health Insurance Rising So Fast?
The Wrong Idea
I was recently going over some health insurance options with a client. We were comparing some high deductible HSA qualified plans with some lower deductible copay plans. She then asked about some of the really cheap plans she saw on our instant quote engine like Right Start from Assurant. I explained that we don’t recommend… Read more about The Wrong Idea