[…] Carol indicated that it was the consensus of everyone she has talked with that $5 billion won’t come close to covering the cost of these high-risk pools in 50 states for four years. She and a number of other Medicaid commissioners are leaning away from expansion or development of new high-risk pools in their states, not for political or philosophical reasons, but because the pools don’t make economic sense. As the federal bill is written, if states don’t act, a federal high risk pool is to be created to fill essentially the same function.
health insurance
Not Enough Doctors Choosing Geriatrics
[…] There’s a pretty obvious need for a dramatic increase in the number of medical students entering the field of geriatrics, and it is a bit perplexing as to why the health care reform legislation didn’t put more emphasis on loan repayments and other financial incentives to encourage doctors to pursue a career in geriatrics. My guess is that as the shortage of geriatricians becomes more pressing over the next few years, we might see some additional funding aimed at solving the problem.
Colorado Ski Resorts And Health Care Reform
One of the aims of the health care reform legislation is to encourage employers to provide health insurance for their employees. In order to close the loophole that would allow employers to hire many part-time workers (and avoid paying benefits for them), the new law looks at the total number of hours worked to determine “full time equivalent employees”. On page 309-310 of the Senate Bill, the math is explained: […]
Eligibility For Colorado State Mandated Basic And Standard Plans
[…] All individual health insurance applications in Colorado ask a set of questions to determine if the applicant qualifies as a group of one. If the applicant does, and is declined for the individual coverage, the insurance carrier must offer group of one coverage instead (although it will be significantly more expensive than the individual policy). If the person does not meet the definition of a group of one, he or she will be sent a notice by the insurance carrier regarding eligibility for Cover Colorado.
Playing The Odds With Health Insurance
[…] The premium costs that are often tossed around represent group premiums, which are partially (sometime completely) paid by employers. Once individual health insurance becomes guaranteed issue in 2014, the premiums will likely rise to cover the cost of paying for pre-existing conditions. The only way to offset this rate hike is for more healthy people to join the insurance pool. That’s where the mandate comes in, and hopefully it will work.
Imerica Proceeding To Liquidation
Last fall, Imerica was placed in rehabilitation and stopped selling new policies. As of April 2010, however, the rehabilitation process has been deemed unsuccessful, and Imerica will now be liquidated. Imerica policyholders will be notified of the liquidation, and should begin looking for new coverage if they have not already. […]
Expanding Coverage For People With Health Conditions
One of the provisions of the new health care reform law is $5 billion in federal funding for high risk pools, set to begin operating this summer, that will provide health insurance for people with pre-existing conditions who don’t currently have health insurance. This is intended to be a stop-gap until 2014, when high risk pools will presumably no longer be necessary, since private health insurers will have to begin accepting all applicants in 2014. […]
The Impact Of Reform On Student Health Insurance Policies
[…] It stands to reason that fewer students will be in need of such coverage since dependents will be allowed to stay on their parents’ policies until age 26, but not all students have that option, and some will still opt to purchase health insurance from their schools. But the question remains as to whether student health insurance plans will fall under the scope of the new law that prohibits lifetime maximums and unreasonable annual limits. […]
How Reform Will Impact Lifetime And Annual Benefit Maximums
[…] 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. […]
Health Care Reform From A Doctor’s Perspective
[…] 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.
Governor Ritter Signs Health Insurance Gender Discrimination Bill
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. […]
Rescission Still Allowed In Cases Of Fraud Or Misrepresentation
[…] 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.
Pre-Existing Conditions, Children, And Health Care Reform
[…] If I’m understanding the bill correctly, it looks like people (adults and children) will still be subject to full medical underwriting until 2014, and can still be declined for coverage until that time. It appears that policies that use rate increases rather than exclusions won’t be impacted at all, and policies that use exclusions will still be able to decline applicants, including children, until 2014.
Colorado Attorney General Questioning Legality Of Health Insurance Mandate
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. […]
Health Insurance Options For Young Adults
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. […]
Colorado HB 1166 Makes Insurance Easier To Understand
[…] 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. […]
Going In The Wrong Direction
Amnesty International has released a shocking and sobering report about maternal mortality in the US. In 1987, there were 6.6 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births. Two decades later, that number had risen to 13.3 deaths per 100,000 live births. Part of the increase is due to better reporting, but there are also more women dying from pregnancy complications than there were in the 80s. […]
The Grass Might Be Greener, But It Sure Is Pricey
[…] 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.
The Value We Get From Our Healthcare Dollars
[…] 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.
Health Care Reform Should Be Federally Driven
[…] 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.
How The Public Views Health Care Reform
[…] 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.
Starting Over Seems Like A Waste
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. […]
Colorado Division Of Insurance Reconsidering Anthem Rate Increase
[…] But these numbers would seem to indicate that while Anthem’s rate increase may have been large, it seems to be in line with what other carriers are charging in Colorado. For the little test I conducted, Anthem’s premium was the second-lowest I found, and the only one with a lower premium had an additional thousand dollars in out of pocket exposure.
Competition Among Private Health Insurance Companies
[…] I will be interested to see more on the Wellpoint story as the rate increases are investigated this spring, but I imagine that it’s not a simple problem or one that has a simple solution. It’s true that Wellpoint is in business to make money. But a dramatic, highly publicized rate increase is bad for business, and it’s hard to explain it away as a company simply trying to raise profits.
Mandate Still Too Weak In Health Care Reform Compromise
[…] 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.