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Colorado Health Insurance Insider

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You are here: Home / Archives for Health Insurance Reform

Health Insurance Reform

How Reform Will Impact Lifetime And Annual Benefit Maximums

April 2, 2010 By Louise Norris

[…] Another question we’ve had recently has to do with lifetime and annual benefit maximums. So I read those sections of the Senate Bill and the changes added during reconciliation, to get a good understanding of exactly how the new legislation will impact individual health insurance policies. […]

Filed Under: Group Health, Health Insurance Reform, Individual/Family Health

Health Care Reform From A Doctor’s Perspective

March 31, 2010 By Louise Norris

[…] So unless rationing (explained in a positive light) becomes the industry standard for doctors, I doubt that any one doctor could make much of a difference, since people who are used to getting what they want from their doctors might just seek out another doctor. Hopefully as time goes by and more people understand the lack of sustainability with regards to health care costs, more people will be willing to consider the possibility that some forms of rationing in health care might be a good thing after all.

Filed Under: Health Care Goodies, Health Insurance Reform

Governor Ritter Signs Health Insurance Gender Discrimination Bill

March 30, 2010 By Louise Norris

Colorado Governor Ritter signed a bill yesterday requiring individual health insurance carriers to charge the same prices for women and men. Colorado House Bill 1008 would go into effect January 1, 2011, and would require that gender no longer be used to set prices on individual health insurance policies that begin or renew on or after that date. So by the end of 2011, we can assume that pretty much every policy in Colorado will be impacted, as nearly all policies renew annually. […]

Filed Under: Health Insurance Reform, Individual/Family Health

Rescission Still Allowed In Cases Of Fraud Or Misrepresentation

March 29, 2010 By Louise Norris

[…] Starting in 2014, pre-existing conditions will no longer be an issue when applying for individual health insurance, and one would assume that the practice of rescissions will also disappear at that time. But between now and then, applicants still have to be honest when completing applications for individual health insurance, as rescission will continue be allowed if it is deemed that the applicant committed fraud or intentional misrepresentation when applying for a policy.

Filed Under: Advice, Health Insurance Reform

Colorado Attorney General Questioning Legality Of Health Insurance Mandate

March 25, 2010 By Louise Norris

Colorado Attorney General John Suthers is joining with several other attorneys general who are challenging the legality of the requirement that all Americans carry health insurance, which is part of the bill that President Obama signed into law this morning. Basically, they’re saying that the federal government doesn’t have a constitutional right to compel citizens to take part in any specific market – including health insurance. […]

Filed Under: Health Insurance Reform

Health Insurance Options For Young Adults

March 24, 2010 By Louise Norris

One of the provisions in the health care reform bill allows children to remain on their parents’ health insurance policies until the age of 26. You may recall that a couple of years ago, Colorado passed a law allowing children here to remain on their parents’ policies until the age of 25, so the new law won’t have as much of an impact here as it will in states that currently boot young adults off of their parents’ coverage at younger ages. […]

Filed Under: Group Health, Health Insurance Reform, Individual/Family Health

Colorado HB 1166 Makes Insurance Easier To Understand

March 22, 2010 By Louise Norris

[…] His Plain Language In insurance bill passed out of the House last week, and is headed for the Senate this week. It would require that all auto, dental, long term care, and health insurance policies sold in Colorado be written at no more than a 10th grade reading level starting in 2010. It would also require that all the fine print be no finer than a 10 point font. […]

Filed Under: Dental, Fort Collins, Group Health, Health Insurance Reform, HSA, Individual/Family Health

CBO Numbers Convince Colorado Rep To Vote Yes

March 19, 2010 By Louise Norris

Colorado Representative Betsy Markey has announced that she will vote yes on the health care reform bill on Sunday, following her no vote last November. The new CBO numbers that were released this week apparently had a lot to do with her decision; she stated that reducing the deficit by “$138 billion in the first 10 years, $1.2 trillion in the second 10 years — those are figures I simply cannot ignore.” The CBO numbers are better than expected, and will likely convince some fence-riding Democrats to vote for the bill. […]

Filed Under: Health Care Goodies, Health Insurance Reform

The Grass Might Be Greener, But It Sure Is Pricey

March 11, 2010 By Louise Norris

[…] Individual health insurance is a great option for people who are healthy, and especially those who are relatively young… But the price increases with age, and many early retirees find it a challenge to pay for health insurance during the years before they are eligible for Medicare. My guess is that even if private individual policies could be purchased by people over the age of 65, very few people would take that option, simply because of the price.

Filed Under: Group Health, Health Insurance Reform, HSA, Individual/Family Health, Medicare

The Value We Get From Our Healthcare Dollars

March 10, 2010 By Louise Norris

[…] Perhaps the question we should be asking is not who should be paying for healthcare, but rather, why in the world are we paying so much in the first place? Health insurance premiums will continue to rise as long as health care costs do the same. It won’t do any good to try to address premiums without first figuring out why we’re paying so much for our health care in the first place, and doing something about it.

Filed Under: Accident/Injury, Health Insurance Reform, HSA, Humana

Health Care Reform Should Be Federally Driven

March 9, 2010 By Jay Norris

[…] I feel fortunate to live in a state where we have a solid high risk pool (Cover Colorado) and lots of options for policies in both the individual and group market. But I can’t help but think of people who live in states where there aren’t any health insurance policies available to people who are sick and not covered by an employer’s plan. For them, health care reform on a state level has a long way to go, and might not happen at all.

Filed Under: Group Health, Health Insurance Reform, Individual/Family Health, Medicare

How The Public Views Health Care Reform

March 5, 2010 By Jay Norris

[…] The people who are hurting the most are those who purchase their own health insurance, and people who work for very small businesses that struggle every month to continue to pay the premiums to keep their policies in force. These people make up a relatively small percentage of the population, and their voices are being drowned out by all the people who don’t have to deal with the issues being addressed by health care reform.

Filed Under: Health Insurance Reform, Individual/Family Health

Starting Over Seems Like A Waste

March 3, 2010 By Louise Norris

Last week’s seven hour health care summit was basically a rehash of the ideas that were tossed around throughout the last year of health care reform debate. Neither party seems willing to negotiate much more in terms of the nitty gritty of the reform, and it’s looking like the Dems might try to use reconciliation to push through their reform bill. […]

Filed Under: Health Care Goodies, Health Insurance Reform

Mandate Still Too Weak In Health Care Reform Compromise

February 25, 2010 By Louise Norris

[…] If people know that they won’t be penalized for pre-existing conditions and that health insurance companies will have to accept everyone, a penalty that is just a tiny fraction of the cost of coverage might be the preferred option for a lot of people. And without a large pool of healthy insureds, I just don’t see a way that premiums won’t increase significantly. I’m keeping an open mind, but I’m skeptical that we’ll be able to provide all of the proposed consumer benefits with such a lax enforcement of mandatory health insurance.

Filed Under: Anthem Blue Cross, Health Insurance Reform, Individual/Family Health

Wellpoint Premium Increases Provide Strong Case For Mandate

February 24, 2010 By Louise Norris

[…] People who buy their own health insurance must pay the whole bill, every month. When it’s time for their rate increase, there’s no employer shouldering part of the burden. The option to continue or drop coverage is there every month when it’s time to pay the premium… and if it comes to a decision between the rent or the health insurance, it’s easy to understand how a healthy person might opt to go uninsured.

Filed Under: Anthem Blue Cross, Group Health, Health Insurance Reform, Individual/Family Health

Reform Needed, But No Consensus On The Details

February 18, 2010 By Louise Norris

[…] We’ll have to wait and see what congress comes up with next week during their summit with the president, but there’s no way they’re going to make something out of nothing. In order to provide health insurance for everyone, we’ll either have to give up some freedoms (in the form of a mandate requiring everyone to carry coverage) or pay a little extra in taxes or premiums.

Filed Under: Group Health, Health Insurance Reform, HSA, Individual/Family Health

Efforts Underway To Improve Colorado Health Report Card Score

February 15, 2010 By Louise Norris

Last week I wrote about the poor results – specifically for children – on the Colorado Health Report Card. Governor Ritter has issued an explanation about the poor results, detailing how the numbers used in the report card are largely outdated (from 2007), and that many improvements have since been made in terms of the health of Colorado children. […] I’m hopeful that the next Colorado Health Report Card will show a big improvement across the board, but especially in the area of children’s health.

Filed Under: Health Care Goodies, Health Insurance Reform

Mandates And Health Insurance Premiums

February 10, 2010 By Louise Norris

[…] We cannot continue to just tack on more mandates that increase health insurance benefits without addressing the inevitable premium increases that will follow. We absolutely need to address the problem of people facing staggering bills when a medical condition is not covered at all by their health insurance, but if we continue to add mandates without looking for ways to bring down costs, we’re only going to push more people into being uninsured.

Filed Under: Group Health, Health Insurance Reform, HSA, Individual/Family Health

Rush Limbaugh Advises His Listeners To Go Uninsured

February 6, 2010 By Jay Norris

There are plenty of valid complaints against the current health care reform bills. Those who say that the bills don’t do enough to address the root problem of ever-increasing health care costs have a very good point. But take it with a grain of salt when a multi-millionaire with the ability to pay cash for any medical treatment he might need rails against reform that might make medical care more affordable for average people and talks […]

Filed Under: Health Care Goodies, Health Insurance Reform

Maternity As An Option Rather Than A Mandate

February 5, 2010 By Louise Norris

[…] It would be nice to see more options available for our clients who are looking for maternity coverage. My preference would be if clients could select their health insurance policy based on all of the other features of the plan, and then add maternity benefits after they had settled on a policy, rather than choosing a policy by default simply because it is one of a very few options that offer maternity benefits.

Filed Under: Health Insurance Reform, Individual/Family Health, Insurance Companies, Rocky Mountain, United Healthcare

A Good Alternative To Mandatory Health Insurance

February 2, 2010 By Louise Norris

[…] there wouldn’t be an incentive for people to remain uninsured and wait until they got sick to purchase health insurance. The choice to be uninsured would come with consequences, but it would still be a legal choice. This would allow people to make their own decisions, but would also protect health insurance companies and people who maintain continuous coverage.

Filed Under: Health Care Goodies, Health Insurance Reform, Individual/Family Health

Health Care Reform Does Not Mean Government Run Health Care

January 29, 2010 By Louise Norris

[…] Yes, we would all have to purchase health insurance under the proposed reform bills. But if we want guaranteed issue universal coverage, and we don’t want the government running the health care system, there isn’t really a way around the requirement that everyone obtain coverage. And yes, we’ll need some additional tax revenues in order to help subsidize health insurance coverage for families who would otherwise be unable to afford it. But I can’t see how these things translate into the federal government running the health care system.

Filed Under: Health Insurance Reform

Americans More Concerned About The Economy Than Health Care

January 28, 2010 By Louise Norris

[…] A good deal of President Obama’s state of the union address last night was focused on his plans for economic recovery, and this makes sense. But bringing health care costs into line with what the rest of the world spends should still be a priority, and I hope that we continue to look for solutions that will eventually result in affordable, accessible health care for all Americans.

Filed Under: Health Insurance Reform

Cadillac Tax Could Impact Non Cadillac Plans Too

January 21, 2010 By Louise Norris

[…] But setting a flat dollar amount above which a plan will be taxed seems ill-advised. It doesn’t really do a good job of weeding out health insurance plans that truly have too many bells and whistles, and it wrongly penalizes people who live in areas where health care costs are higher than average, or companies with a disproportionate number of older workers.

Filed Under: Anthem Blue Cross, Group Health, Health Insurance Reform, Insurance Companies

A Misguided Initiative

January 20, 2010 By Louise Norris

[…] The decision to not carry health insurance (despite being able to afford it) is one that has ramifications for more than just the person who opts to be uninsured. In addition, there is no way to keep health insurance premiums affordable unless a large number of healthy people are paying premiums to offset the cost of care for those who are not as healthy.

Filed Under: Denver, Health Insurance Reform

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