What Does the Affordability Act Has in Store For Colorado?
Now Coloradans have to pay lesser premiums thanks to the Affordable Care Act. It is expected that the premiums rate will fall by 14- 20 % when the health reforms are implemented. That effectively means that you will now pay $ 1510 – $ 2160 as premium for your family.
The fall in premium rates is accredited to two reasons – a) it covers more people, reforms the market and thus increases the market competition and b) it saves on administrative charges.
Not just the premiums, the reforms will benefit the state of Colorado in other ways as well. Here is a glimpse at a few of them:-
• 500,000 currently uninsured Coloradans will have access to coverage with the new health reforms in place. Presently the number of uninsured residents is estimated to be between 750,000- 770,000.
• 90,800 small businesses in the state would be benefited by a smaller business tax credit that would make it easier for employers to provide insurance to their workers. These small businesses were earlier about 18 % more than large ventures for the same coverage.
• 2.9 million Coloradans do not have to worry about their coverage running out as there would be no lifetime limits on the coverage provided. This will save them from a huge medical bills and out-of pocket expenses.
• A $5 billion temporary early retiree program will stabilize early retiree coverage and ensure that the firm provides coverage to all those who have retired early. Companies, unions, state and local governments will be eligible for the benefits which will reach out to more than 62,700 people.
• 18,600 individuals in the state of Colorado will now have affordable access through the coverage of their parents. Effective from September 23, plans and insurers must allow children to stay in their parents’ coverage till they turn 26.
• Colorado has a funding of $90.3 million dollars to cover uninsured residents with pre-existing medical conditions through a high-risk pool program that is to be funded entirely by the federal government. The program will be administered by the Federal Government if the State chooses not to run it.
• Children can now longer be denied coverage on the basis of pre-existing medical conditions. This comes as a relief to thousands of parents across Colorado.
The Act will bring in more funding for the Community Health Centres and National Health Service Corps, starting from October1, 2010.
Colorado, for the first time, will also have the option of Medicaid for all low-income population, irrespective of age, disability or the family status.
The Act also gives people the freedom to keep a plan if they like it. The patient’s choice of doctors will also be protected in the Act. No prior authorization would be required for emergency care or if a woman wants to see an ob-gyn.
It is not just about the numbers. The new health reform plans will make coverage more affordable and make the insurance market more competitive. This will give the same buying power to individuals, families and business owners to choose the plan that suits their needs.
Small Business Health Insurance Company Policies – Colorado
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National health reform could jeopardize California patient protections
A host of medical services that insurers must pay for in California — from cancer screenings to diabetes treatment to two-day hospital stays for delivering mothers — could be weakened or lost if the health care measures pending in Congress become law.
Currently, any health insurer selling policies in California must comply with the state’s extensive consumer protections. The reform measures would allow insurance firms to sell policies across state lines if certain conditions were met, bypassing California’s rules in favor of the requirements in the state where the policy is issued.
The result, critics warn, would be a “race to the bottom,” in which insurance companies set up shop in states with the weakest consumer rights and skirt California’s lengthy list of mandated health care services.
“This has the potential to wipe out all of these hard-fought protections,” said Rep. Jackie Speier, D-San Mateo, who led the drive for several of those mandates as a state legislator earlier in her career and is now threatening to vote against a health care overhaul that weakens California’s standards.
Speier and 28 other Democratic House members from California outlined their concerns about interstate health insurance sales in a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., last week.
“Practically speaking, insurers will domicile their plans in states with less stringent regulations and market to the population in more protective states like ours, just like nationally chartered banks have done,” stated the letter, which was signed by several other Bay Area Democrats. “California residents will lose out if state protections are undermined.”
California could take steps to preserve the state’s protections, but that could be tricky given the power of the insurance lobby.
Selling insurance across state lines has long been touted by Republicans and insurance firms as a way to spur competition and reduce premiums. More interstate sales, they say, would mean more choices for consumers.
“One of the challenges and barriers to competition is all the varying and conflicting state mandates that exist across the country,” said Robert Zirkelbach, a spokesman for the industry trade group America’s Health Insurance Plans, arguing that the patchwork of rules contributes to higher premiums.
The health care reform legislation would create a few avenues for interstate insurance sales. Under one scenario envisioned by the Senate bill, insurers could sell so-called “multistate” policies with benefits meeting minimum standards that would be defined by federal regulators after health care legislation passes.
If California wanted to mandate benefits that exceed federal standards — including those now in place — it would have to add them back through new legislation passed in Sacramento. Moreover, California would have to pay the extra costs of any additional benefits it mandated — either by compensating individuals enrolled in the plans or by paying insurance companies directly.
That could lead to a situation, critics say, in which many of the state’s current consumer protections are stripped away. To get them back, “We would have to go back and fight these battles again, one by one” in the state Legislature, said Jerry Flanagan, a health care advocate for Santa Monica-based Consumer Watchdog.
Under another scenario, states could enter into compacts in which insurance companies would be subject to the regulations of the state where they issue policies instead of the customer’s home state. For that to happen, California leaders would have to voluntarily enter into agreements with other states, knowing that California’s own health care protections could be ignored.
Although that might seem far-fetched, it’s not inconceivable, Speier argues, given the insurance industry’s political influence in Sacramento.
Allowing health insurance to be sold across state lines could affect California’s top insurers in different ways. Those owned by large national companies, such as Anthem Blue Cross and UnitedHealth Group, would likely benefit from the ability to sell streamlined policies to customers in many states, while potentially avoiding California’s strict rules.
But the change could mean more competition for insurers concentrated in California, such as Kaiser Permanente.
UnitedHealth declined to comment, while representatives for Blue Cross and Kaiser Permanente did not respond to requests for comment. The list of mandated benefits in California numbers in the dozens, ranging from asthma care for children to post-mastectomy reconstructive surgery. Aside from such benefits, state laws give consumers other protections designed to boost their leverage with insurance companies. For example, if a medical procedure is denied or delayed by an insurer, patients can seek an independent third-party medical review.
According to Speier, more than half of the 7,000 denials or delays of care reviewed through that appeals process since 2000 have been reversed.
“There really is a lot at stake,” she said.
A vote in the Senate on health care reform is scheduled Thursday morning.
In another potential detriment to California, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Tuesday said that the health reform measures would saddle the state with an additional $3 billion to $4 billion in annual Medicaid costs to provide insurance to low-income residents. In a letter to Pelosi and other California congressional members, he warned that the health care measures would impose a “crushing new burden” on the state and urged the lawmakers to amend the legislation before final votes in Congress.
“As the partner responsible for implementing this program,” wrote Schwarzenegger, who has been generally supportive of the push for national health care reform, “I am telling you that our Medicaid program is already at the breaking point, and if federal health care reform is passed without addressing the underlying faults in the system, health care reform will fail
What is the Difference Between Health Insurance Companies in California?
Whether you already know it or not California has a lot of options for health insurance. There are companies that we all heard of and there are some companies that we never heard of. With all the Health Insurance Companies out there you might be wondering what the differences are and which one is right for you.
First in state of California the health insurance companies you should be looking at are; Aetna, Assurant, Blue Cross, Blue Shield, HealthNet, Kaiser, Nationwide, PacifiCare, Celtic and new company that is going to be available in state of California is Golden Rule. These are the largest carriers that are available in the State of California. If you are looking at any other company that was not mentioned previously, use caution. With all the health insurance premiums going up there are companies that prey on people with low premiums and coverage that does not cover anything. They are just out there to make a quick buck buy collection as much premiums as they can before you cancel your coverage. Stay away from companies that you never heard of, not matter what they tell you. If you hear something like, “affordable health insurance for self-employed”, run.
Second what you have to understand that the actual cost of insurance no matter what company you go with is about the same. So how do insurance companies have so many different plans with different premiums? If it is a large insurance company and the company ran efficiently that is how you get great premium with great coverage. What creates variety of prices for coverage is the creative aspect of the insurance company designing their plans. The way they do it is by deductibles, co-pays, co-insurance, drug coverage deductibles, whether the plan covers brand name drugs or generic drugs only, maternity coverage, maximum out of pocket, deductible and co-pays for all kind of different services.
The name we all know is Blue Cross Blue Shield. Blue Cross has been around since the recession of 1929, and it used to cost only 1 cent a day. The times have changes since then, but the Blue Cross name is still around. Blue Cross has been over the years the most stable largest health insurance provider in the United States. Their strategy is to keep rates stable and have stable rate increases. While most other plans might lower their rates to get more people on their coverage and then keep increasing their rates. There fore as some plans might be more attractive in premiums at the moment over time eventually they have to catch up with the actual market health insurance cost. Sometime the company has to charge people more for health insurance in the future so they can give more affordable rates today. Blue Cross will give the one of the largest varieties of plans to choose from and you can always downgrade a plan without going through underwriting is the monthly premiums because to expensive.
The most competitive health insurance coverage you will be able to get in California today is through Aetna and once Golden Rule plans come out by United Health Care then Golden Rule plans are going to be the most completive plan. Every time most of the large insurance companies enter a new state with a new plan they make that plan more competitive just to capture the percentage of that market eventually the company will have to raise their rates to the market level. Aetna plans in California are the most competitive. This is where you can get the most coverage for your money. Keep in mind that the Aetna Individual plans in the state of California do not cover Maternity.
Assurant Health Plans is provided through Fortis Insurance Company witch is the 26th largest company in the world and Fortis Insurance Company has been around since 1892. Assurant Health Plans are the most widely accepted and flexible plans that are available on the market today. Assurant Health Plans utilizes dozens of provider networks Nationwide to give you the worlds largest selections of doctors in United States and worldwide. Assurant Health Plans are the only plans that will cover you world wide as they will cover you in the United States. There is a big difference when insurance company says that you are covered for emergencies worldwide. Insurance company can make a final decision on whether that was true emergency or not. Assurant Health Plans have no such restrictions. Assurant is the only company that will allow you to move to different state without going through underwriting process all over again. That meant that with most companies even if it is a same company if you move from one state to another you have to cancel you policy in the current state and re-apply in the state that you are moving to. The down side with Assurant in some states is that they are not the most competitive and harder to get approved for. If you considering HSA plan, Assurant Health is the best options available to individuals and families.
Blue Shield of California is great coverage especially if it is young family looking for a plan with maternity coverage and for a family where one of the adults on the plans is significantly younger than the other. Blue Shield bases their monthly premiums on the youngest primary policy holder. This can be any adult in the family. Blue Shield plans have low maximum out of pocket and wide acceptance with doctors. A lot of doctors in state of California prefer Blue Shield plans because Blue Shield reimburses them faster than most other insurance companies. Keep in mind that in some states Blue Cross and Blue Shield are the same company in state of California they are two different insurance companies competing for your business.
HealthNet of California is the insurance company available in western states. HealthNet family plans are affordable, have some of the lowest maximum out of pocket and designed for healthy individuals and families. The new line of plans form HealthNet are their popular no deductible PPO plans. Which are some of the worst plans for families. No deductible plans are not designed for families since they have extremely high maximum out of pocket witch might be a great fit for single healthy individuals. HealthNet of California also offers some of the best HMO plans available on the market. Health Net’s simple design and affordable plans are perfect match for healthy families. The way their family plans work is that once you meet your deductible HealthNet will pay 100% for all of your medical expenses after that. The down side is that their family plans do not cover regular sick doctor visits. The money that you are going to save monthly is going to be way worth no having doctor visits covered until the deductible is met. All you will get is negotiated rates that HealthNet has with doctors and hospitals. Your doctor office visits are going to cost you anywhere from $65 to $65 per visit.
Nationwide Health Plans have some of the great unique options that other plans just don’t offer. The only way you can get Nationwide health plans is by being a member of California Farm Bureau. Anyone can become a member of California Farm Bureau also know as Farmers Association. Because it is a group plans it has some options available that most individual plans do not have. You still have to qualify medically to get health insurance through Nationwide. Nationwide offers some of the most comprehensive health plans available on the market today. Nationwide health plans offer low maximum out of pocket. Some plans that they offer work similar to the way HealthNet’s plans work. Once you meet your deductible Nationwide covers everything at 100% and Nationwide plans cover doctor visit before you meet your deductible and Nationwide is the only health insurance company that has no prescription drug deductible on most of their plans. If you are looking for the most competitive HSA plans, Nationwide will be your choice.
PacifiCare is company that has been available to Californians for a long time until recently they were bought by United Health Care. PacificaCare will be replaced by Golden Rule health plans. If you have PacifiCare you might want to find out if you will have to re-qualify medically for new health insurance once they take the company of the market. Golden Rule owned by United Health Care witch known as the quality company and recommended everywhere. If you are considering PacifiCare I would wait for Golden Rule or get something else. For more great resource on Health Insurance visit www.GuideToHealthInsurance.org
Should the United States Mandate Health Insurance…or Not?
SiCKO is more like a controlled howl of protest than a documentary. Toning down the rhetoric of past efforts–no CEOs, congressmen, or celebrities were accosted in the making of this film–Michael Moore’s latest provocation is just as heartfelt, if not more heartbreaking. As he clarifies from the outset, his subject isn’t the 45 million Americans without insurance, but those whose coverage has fai…
A look at the upcoming vote on health care reform. We talk to House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Maryland)|| A discussion with Lawrence O’Donnell of MSNBC and a former chief of staff on the Senate finance committee, Rich Lowry from the National Review, Norm Ornstein from the American Enterprise Institute and Ezra Klein from the Washington PostThis product is manufactured on demand using DVD-R …
An hour with Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House of RepresentativesThis product is manufactured on demand using DVD-R recordable media. Amazon.com’s standard return policy will apply….
There is a commercial playing evenings on Court TV about a company that is offering PPO Health insurance for $160 a month with no health questions, and it is not just a discount card.
The commercial itself tells you nothing about the insurance policy, or who the provider is. My logical side says that this has to be some sort of scam. My uninsured emotional side says call.
Has anybody actually called that number to find out what the insurance actually covers?
If it’s not a scam it’s probably an indemnity plan. These plans will reimburse you after you get medical treatment. For example, they’ll pay you $50 when you go to the doctor but you have to pay the doctor bill first. These plans are good for people who are otherwise uninsurable but not for the average person.
Be very wary of medical discount cards. They are not regulated by the Department of Insurance nor do the people that sell them need to be licensed. This means you have little recourse when you have problems with the plan. If you are tempted by the low price and claims of “save up to 80%” be aware that very few doctors actually take these cards. It does you little good if you have to drive 4 hours to find a doctor that will accept the card. Montana couldn’t find any doctors in the whole state that actually took the card and only one dentist who was on probation for unlawful activities so they banned the sale of the card and fined the company. See this link http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/west/2006/11/22/74554.htm for more information. Many other states are starting to ban these cards as well.
Before signing up with any discount plan get a list of doctors. If they won’t give you a list consider it to be a scam. Call the doctors on the list to make sure they’re still taking the card (many don’t even know that they’re listed as a provider) and that they’re accepting new patients.
Ron Paul opposes Health bill, Health Insurance Fraud 03/19/10
SiCKO is more like a controlled howl of protest than a documentary. Toning down the rhetoric of past efforts–no CEOs, congressmen, or celebrities were accosted in the making of this film–Michael Moore’s latest provocation is just as heartfelt, if not more heartbreaking. As he clarifies from the outset, his subject isn’t the 45 million Americans without insurance, but those whose coverage has fai…
