[…] But some students have done their own research and found an individual health insurance policy that better fits their needs and/or budget, and they would prefer to be given the option of keeping that policy. For those students, we feel that colleges should reconsider their waiver requirements and treat their students as adults who are capable of making their own decisions.
Individual/Family Health
Colorado HB 1224 Passes Senate
[…] I would like to see lower utilization of health care across the board. Overall, I think that the focus needs to be on reducing health care costs (which requires addressing all aspects of the health care system, from patients and doctors, to pharmaceutical companies and health insurance carriers) rather than redistributing the costs among men and women.
Preventive Colon Cancer Screeing In Colorado
[…] The changes will go into effect on July 1, 2009 and will require all Colorado health insurance providers to cover preventive colon cancer screening for policy holders over the age of 50, and screening for younger policy holders who are considered at high risk for colon cancer. The legislation pertains to both individual and group health insurance policies. […]
Same Sex Domestic Partner Coverage From Anthem
We’re pleased to report that Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield is now offering same sex domestic partner coverage on individual health insurance policies in Colorado. Many large group plans have been offering coverage for same sex domestic partners for a while now, but this hasn’t been the case in the individual health insurance market. […]
Some Thoughts On Colorado HB1224
[…] I looked at premiums for $5,000 deductible HSA qualified policies from Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, Aetna, Assurant, Cigna, Humana, and United HealthOne. If lawmakers disallow the use of gender to determine individual health insurance premiums in Colorado, younger women and older men will have lower premiums, while younger men and older women will have higher premiums. There won’t be any actual benefit to the overall population – health insurance premiums will just be averaged for men and women.
Stimulus Aims To Help Laid Off Workers Retain Health Insurance
[…] The number of Americans without health insurance is already way too high. And since most people get their health insurance from an employer, the rising unemployment numbers were sure to drive the number of uninsureds higher. Hopefully the stimulus bill will help to mitigate the problem for at least the rest of this year.
COBRA Only Helps If You Can Afford It
[…] Most people just can’t afford COBRA premiums. In Colorado, unemployment hit 6.1% in December. I’ve seen conflicting reports about the stimulus bill and whether the final version will contain relief for unemployed Americans struggling to pay for health insurance. Without it, the number of uninsureds will likely be higher this year than ever before.
HB 1256 Not Really A Benefit To Consumers
[…] The Colorado Insurance Commissioner regulates the health insurance market in Colorado to make it as beneficial as possible for consumers. Opening the health insurance market to allow for out of state plans to be sold here in Colorado would mean that consumers might end up with lower quality health insurance products, regulated by another state’s rules. […]
Daschle And Health Care Reform
[…] The millions of Americans who lack any type of health insurance and the ever-increasing cost of health care are issues that must be addressed. And unfortunately they’re going to have to be addressed during a time when money is squeaky tight. I imagine partisan politics and lack of money will be a far bigger hurdle for health care reform than Daschle’s withdrawl.
Tough Times For Health Care Reform
[…] everywhere I look these days, the outlook seems pretty bleak. I wonder how many of the optimistic ideas that were tossed about during last year’s campaign will be scrapped for the time being. Hopefully the people who don’t have health insurance (and all the people who are at risk of joining them) will not become a forgotten minority.
The Real Price Of Brand Name Prescription Meds
[…] If a rep presents a new med to a doctor, mentions that it’s a whiz-bang drug, and brushes the cost off by saying something like “it’s a brand name drug, but the copays on brand names are usually only about 20 bucks more than generics” the fact that the drug actually costs more per month than most car payments will probably not factor into the doctor’s prescribing decisions. […]
Women And Healthcare
[…] If you’re up for a little controversy, PalMD at White Coat Underground has written about conscience clauses that allow medical providers to refuse to to provide care if it conflicts with their personal beliefs. A very good point raised in the article and comments is that the conscience clauses tend to be invoked in matters of reproductive health. […]
Email It To Me
I am a big fan of The Office. Michael, Jim, Pam, Dwight… they thoroughly entertain me every Thursday night. Michael isn’t known for his stunning wisdom, but last week there was an exchange between Michael and his boss David that deserves to be shared: David Wallace: I’ll fax over some of the things we’re looking… Read more about Email It To Me
Different Perspectives
[…] Sometimes we need to be reminded that not everyone is aware of the actual cost of health insurance or health care. To us, reform that lowers costs across the board is a very important issue. But with such huge discrepancies in what people are paying for their health insurance, we’re not even in the same book yet, say nothing of on the same page.
Non-Profit Does Not Necessarily Mean Low Cost
I recently posted an article on the Colorado Health Insurance Insider about my views on making Medicare available as an opt-in option for Americans younger than 65. I got a comment on the article that I thought brought up some good points and wanted to expand on some of the ideas. The reader pointed out that a good number of private health insurance plans are non-profit […]
Hopefully No Need For Offshore Medical Centers
[…] A little government intervention in terms of providing affordable basic healthcare access to all Americans through a tax-funded program is a good idea. But too much government intervention, in the form of a moratorium on private pay healthcare, is a bad idea.
No Blackball List In Health Insurance
Several times each week, we talk to clients in Colorado who have been declined by a health insurance carrier in the past. Quite often they express concern about the “black mark” on their record, and wonder if they will ever be able to qualify for a medically underwritten policy. So I thought I’d clear up some of the most common misconceptions about individual health insurance underwriting and previous declines. […]
Public Health Insurance Plan Deserves A Chance
[…] I like the idea of a public health insurance system operating side by side with our private system. I think that there are people who would immediately opt for one or other system just on principal. But I think that there are lots of people who would wait and see what happens. Either way, the idea of a public/private health insurance system deserves a chance.
Medicare Buy In Option A Good Idea
[…] I wonder what would happen if they did decide to open Medicare up to anyone who wanted it and was able to pay for it? If the premiums were lower than what you pay now, would you switch? I’m guessing that a lot of the 744,000 uninsured people here in Colorado would be willing to take a chance on government-run health care if they could afford the premiums. […]
A Cost Saving Idea For Health Insurance Companies
In the nearly seven years we’ve been selling health insurance in Colorado, we’ve seen a lot of technology advancements. These days, applications are online and there are broker websites where we log in to see the status of applications, current premiums for each client, renewal premiums, etc. But health insurance companies still send too much paper mail to agents.
eCare Management Has the Health Wonk Review
At the Colorado Health Insurance Insider, we’ve written about how PCPs are an effective weapon in the battle against overuse of technology and increasing costs in health care. We’ve also written about how a salary (based on quality and outcomes) for PCPs would make more sense than the piecemeal income they currently earn.
United HealthCare Lets You Buy Future Insurability
[…] Golden Rule has launched Continuity in 25 states, and is working to roll out the program in the other states where they market policies. Colorado isn’t one of the first 25 states, although Golden Rule is a big part of the individual health insurance market here, so I expect that we’ll see the Continuity option here before long. […]
How Guaranteed Issue Health Insurance Could Work
[…] I do believe that such a system could work under roughly the same framework that we have today in the private health insurance market. It remains to be seen what health insurance reform will actually come about over the next few years. I think that the combination of guaranteed issue and mandatory coverage has a lot of merit and deserves a second look.
Health Care Sticker Shock
Individual deductibles on employer-sponsored health insurance polices rose to $1000 this year, from $500 in 2007. If you buy your own health insurance, this probably seems like a bargain. Our Colorado clients have hundreds of options for coverage, but $500 is the lowest deductible offered by most carriers; some don’t offer deductibles below $1000 […]
Health Insurance Reform Alone Is Not The Solution
[…] At the Colorado Health Insurance Insider, we’re part of the health insurance industry, but we also try to look at health care reform from an unbiased position. We see the shortcomings in the health insurance industry; we also see failures throughout the health care industry in controlling costs and providing affordable access to health care for everyone. […]