Included in the ratings are Aetna, Anthem BCBS, Cigna, Coventry, Health Net, Humana, United Healthcare, and Medicare. In the individual health insurance market in Colorado, we deal extensively with Aetna, Anthem, Humana, and United Healthcare, so I was especially curious […]
United Healthcare
Ending Tax Breaks For Buyout Firms
Colorado for Health Care is working to end the tax breaks and corporate loopholes that allow big “buyout firms” like KKR to purchase health care companies and then profit handsomely while jobs are cut and patient care deteriorates. The concept is simple enough – health care should be about patients, not profit. But unfortunately that… Read more about Ending Tax Breaks For Buyout Firms
Caesareans Make It Harder To Get Health Insurance
I just finished reading this article from the NY Times about how people who have had caesareans face more hurdles when they try to get individual health insurance. The article focuses on individual health insurance in Colorado, which made it especially interesting for me. Golden Rule – one of the companies mentioned in the article… Read more about Caesareans Make It Harder To Get Health Insurance
More Transparency For Network Negotiated Prices
When Jay had an MRI on his knee last month, we were charged $1200. The EOB tells us that the Vail Valley Medical Center in Vail, Colorado, charges $1600 for the procedure. Our Humana health insurance has a negotiated rate of $1200, which is what we paid (we hadn’t met the deductible yet, so we… Read more about More Transparency For Network Negotiated Prices
Retiree Health Insurance Benefits Based On Age Makes Sense
Last week, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission agreed that employers have the right to reduce or eliminate medical benefits for retirees who reach age 65 and become eligible for federally funded Medicare. This ruling has been met with both support and criticism from several sides. It includes a specific provision that exempts employers from age… Read more about Retiree Health Insurance Benefits Based On Age Makes Sense
United Healthcare Improves Plans, Lowers Rates
United Healthcare has just made some big changes to their individual/family health insurance plans in Colorado. Some of the best improvements are: More flexible underwriting, including a height and weight chart with expanded limits. A first-day wellness benefit. More deductible options United Healthcare was already one of our favorites for underwriting on impaired risk cases…. Read more about United Healthcare Improves Plans, Lowers Rates
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
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
Wonky Health Affairs
Jane Hiebert-White of the Health Affairs Blog presented a great Health Wonk Review today. With sharp descriptions and relevant quotes, it’s well worth your time to browse the collection of health policy related articles she’s put together. Joe Paduda’s contribution about United Healthcare not helping consumers become better buyers in the consumer-directed health care system… Read more about Wonky Health Affairs
Doctors Fight Back Against United Healthcare
United Healthcare has shown that it can be thuggish with its providers in the past by threatening to fine them $50 if patients decide to get testing done at facilities other than Laboratory Corp. of America or other United Healthcare selected labs. Readers have commented that the “AMA could of course advise physicians not to… Read more about Doctors Fight Back Against United Healthcare
Why Am I Still Faxing?
A couple weeks ago, our fax machine stopped working. Common sense just tells me that actually buying a new one would be like buying a new Sony Walkman cassette player… stupid. And we’re kinda wannabe hippies, so we’re trying to have a completely paperless office. And the whole paperless thing is going very well, except… Read more about Why Am I Still Faxing?
United Healthcare Pushes Around Doctors
Doctors say UnitedHealth Group Inc. is threatening to fine them over something they can’t control: patients’ behavior.Beginning March 1, UnitedHealth said it could fine a doctor $50 if a patient has tests done in facilities besides Laboratory Corp. of America or other labs that the company has selected. Doctors with patients who go out of… Read more about United Healthcare Pushes Around Doctors
SEC Probes United Healthcare
I don’t think anybody will be surprised by the news that the SEC is looking into United Healthcare after their ex-CEO William McGuire’s stock option mess. McGuire was appointed president and CEO of what was then United Healthcare Corp. in 1989, then named chairman and CEO in 1991. Acquisitions he engineered helped United Healthcare rise… Read more about SEC Probes United Healthcare
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
Insurance Mergers and Network Shrinkage Hurts Consumers
I have a good friend who is seven months pregnant with her first child. Her employer-sponsored health insurance is with PacifiCare, which recently merged with United HealthCare. Ever since her first prenatal visit in April, she has been seeing a nurse-midwife and an OB/GYN with whom she feels very comfortable. She had planned to deliver… Read more about Insurance Mergers and Network Shrinkage Hurts Consumers
United Healthcare in a Tough Battle
After United Healthcare lapsed their contract with HCA, things got ugly. Dr. Craig Keyes, CEO of United’s Colorado division, was accosted and his house vandalized in July. HCA was was even attempting to get United Healthcare clients to switch to carriers contracted with HCA. Well now, Frontier Airlines, which is based in Denver, is switching… Read more about United Healthcare in a Tough Battle
Separate Your HSA from Your Health Insurance
All of the health insurance companies we work with in Colorado now offer HSA qualified high deductible health insurance plans (HDHP). After you’re approved for an HSA qualified HDHP with these companies, they’ll send you information and application information to sign up for a health savings account with a bank they work with. For example,… Read more about Separate Your HSA from Your Health Insurance
Health Insurance – Another Reason to Quit Smoking
In case you needed another reason to ditch your ashtray… Did you know that smokers pay more for their health insurance than non-smokers, if they have to get an individual/family policy? If you’re currently covered on a group plan through your employer, you may not have given this much thought over the years. But what… Read more about Health Insurance – Another Reason to Quit Smoking
United Healthcare of Colorado on Out-of-Network Policy
I’ve been getting a few calls from people asking me about the article “When Choice of Doctor Drives Up Other Bills” in the New York Times yesterday. The article is about Irene Greco’s health insurance claim, who is insured by Oxford Health Plans in New York. She had her operation at a hospital that was… Read more about United Healthcare of Colorado on Out-of-Network Policy