Inside many Colorado Target, Wal-mart, Kroger, and Walgreens stores you’ll find walk-in clinics like MedPoint Express, MinuteClinic, RediClinic, and now SmartCare Family Medical Centers. These in-store clinics allow a fast and convenient option for those with a minor medical need, like an ear infection, and want quick treatment. The problem with these clinics, right now, is… Read more about Another Use for Your HSA
Archives for September 2006
Uninsured American Children
There are currently 9 million uninsured children in the US. Census data shows that 70% of those children live in a home where at least one parent works full-time. The same data indicates that about two thirds of these children would qualify for government-sponsored health insurance if the parents were to apply for it. Uninsured people are… Read more about Uninsured American Children
HSA Usage
A Kaiser Family Foundation poll found that out of all the people with job related health insurance, only 4 percent are enrolled in an HSA qualified plan. “We don’t know yet whether workers and employers ultimately will embrace consumer-driven health plans in big numbers, but it certainly hasn’t been a tidal wave,” study co-author Gary… Read more about HSA Usage
Small Victory
Yesterday, we commented on the story of Jerry Ansley, who got the $2.5M mosquito bite and was about to lose everything because he had MidWest National as his health insurance company. Well, Jerry got a small victory today because he will get to keep his house. UNC Hospitals said it will give up its claim… Read more about Small Victory
Smoking Ban Reduces Heart Attacks
A study done in the 18 months after Pueblo, Colorado enacted its smoking ban in 2003 shows a 27 percent decrease in hospital admissions for heart attacks for city residents. The study was led by Dr. Carl Bartecchi, a clinical professor of medicine at the University of Colorado School of Medicine in Denver. “Heart attack… Read more about Smoking Ban Reduces Heart Attacks
Panel Recommends Basic Health Insurance Plan for All
A federal advisory panel said Monday that Congress should take immediate steps to guarantee that all Americans have access to affordable health care by 2012. As a first step, the 14-member panel, appointed by the comptroller general of the United States, said, “A national public or private program must be established to ensure protection against… Read more about Panel Recommends Basic Health Insurance Plan for All
Who Likes Personal Finance?
For those of us who can’t get enough information on personal finance, the Canadian Capitalist has over 50 articles in the Carnival of Personal Finance. My favorite entry was from InsureBlog about how important it is to choose the right health insurance policy. Mid-West National Insurance Company sells its limited benefit, hospital indemnity plans under… Read more about Who Likes Personal Finance?
Financial Incentives For Good Health
I have a friend who is a physician’s assistant, and spent some time working for a city wellness program. The plan was set up to help city employees improve their overall health, and in the process, get a discount on the health insurance premiums that were deducted from their paychecks. I think this could be… Read more about Financial Incentives For Good Health
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
Humana Extends Contract with HCA-HealthONE in Colorado Through 2008
Good news for our clients with Humana health insurance. After it seemed that HCA was handing out unreasonable rate increases, Humana Inc. HUM announced today that its existing contract with HCA-HealthONE hospital and ancillary facilities has been extended from June 1, 2007 through May 31, 2008 for all Humana members throughout Colorado. “We have forged… Read more about Humana Extends Contract with HCA-HealthONE in Colorado Through 2008
How to Get Health Insurance for Jackasses
Jackass: Number Two hits theaters tonight and the first thing I think of when I watch that movie is “I hope they have good health insurance”. Johnny Knoxville said he was sure they were going to die while filming the Jackass sequel, so they asked studio execs to shell out $7 million in insurance coverage… Read more about How to Get Health Insurance for Jackasses
Wal-Mart Health Insurance Not That Bad
Let me preface this post by saying that I am usually not too impressed with Wal-Mart. I think that their lowest-price-at-any-cost strategy is not the best long-range plan in terms of caring for our Earth and its inhabitants. The Wal-Mart news of the day is about their new super-low priced generic drug program. The news… Read more about Wal-Mart Health Insurance Not That Bad
More on Sending the Wrong Message
– This post is expanding on our previous stories about the new laws allowing parents to keep their children as dependents on their health insurance until they’re 30. For various reasons, the 19 to 29 year old age bracket is the highest uninsured age bracket in the country. These laws were put into place in… Read more about More on Sending the Wrong Message
Sending the Wrong Message To Our Kids About Health Insurance
Recently, several states have passed laws increasing the age that children can stay on their parents’ health insurance policy. The reasoning behind the change is sound: these days, it’s not as easy to get a job with health benefits as it used to be, since fewer employers offer coverage to employees. So allowing young adults to remain on… Read more about Sending the Wrong Message To Our Kids About Health Insurance
Grand Rounds 2.52
Tundra Medicine Dreams has posted the most beautiful Grand Rounds I’ve ever seen. It’s a great collection of healthcare related blog posts and includes Louise’s article on ultrasounds. Among some of my favorites: Tara Smith of Aetiology discusses the recent E. coli outbreak from packaged spinach, a recent study on the association between diet and Alzheimer’s at the… Read more about Grand Rounds 2.52
Preventative Care on Individual Health Insurance
We’ve all heard the adage that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, yet it often seems that most people ignore this advice. Otherwise people would not be dying from smoking-related cancers and the plethora of illnesses caused by obesity. It’s easy to say that these are personal problems and that people… Read more about Preventative Care on Individual Health Insurance
End of an Era
Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield of Colorado has come out with new non-group health insurance applications. On the previous applications, they only requested medical history information from the previous 5 years. This week, they increased that amount of time to 10 years “so the underwriting department can appropriately assess risk for certain medical conditions.” Now,… Read more about End of an Era
Ultrasounds and pregnancy… too much of a good thing?
There is no doubt that over the last few generations, vast amounts of research has been done in the area of obstetrics; modern medicine seems to be able to work miracles when it comes to the care and safety of high-risk mothers and babies, both during and after pregnancy. Babies born 3 months early have… Read more about Ultrasounds and pregnancy… too much of a good thing?
To Make a Short Story Long
In my last post, I discussed a survey from the Commonwealth Fund. It found that 89% of people who’ve sought health insurance in the last 3 years weren’t able to get anything – most of them couldn’t afford the premiums. I thought this sounded a little funny. America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) shows conflicting information based on detailed… Read more about To Make a Short Story Long
Do We Expect Too Much from Health Insurance?
A recent study reports that out of 1,878 people age 19 to 64 polled by telephone, 89% of those who were seeking to buy health insurance in the last 3 years did not do so. “One in five people were turned down or charged a higher premium for individual insurance because of an existing medical condition…. Read more about Do We Expect Too Much from Health Insurance?
Why We Don’t Sell Discount Health Plans
A good reason that I sell health insurance for all of the top carriers in Colorado is because I’m not a very good “salesperson”. I understand the in’s and out’s of all of the different plans and all of the variables affecting coverage like stability of the companies, underwriting, and how they do rate increases. … Read more about Why We Don’t Sell Discount Health Plans
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
Feelin Lucky? Read Cavalcade of Risk #8
Proper risk management techniques can enhance anybody’s luck. Today, we have very informative articles to help us grasp proper implementation of each step of the risk management process. Wikipedia offers us more detail about the specifics of the process. After reading this article, you’ll have a better understanding of financial risk management, which “focuses on risks that… Read more about Feelin Lucky? Read Cavalcade of Risk #8
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
More Help for Colorado Uninsured
CoverColorado Offers More Discounts Many people in Colorado go without health insurance because they have a pre-existing condition that prevents them from getting an individual/family policy. Individual plans are so inexpensive because they perform underwriting and won’t cover pre-existing conditions; they will also decline people with more serious health conditions. There are many of these people… Read more about More Help for Colorado Uninsured