March 2010

Health Care Reform From A Doctor’s Perspective

by Louise March 31, 2010

[...] 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.

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Governor Ritter Signs Health Insurance Gender Discrimination Bill

by Louise March 30, 2010

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. [...]

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Rescission Still Allowed In Cases Of Fraud Or Misrepresentation

by Louise March 29, 2010

[...] 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.

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Pre-Existing Conditions, Children, And Health Care Reform

by Louise March 28, 2010

[...] 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.

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Colorado Attorney General Questioning Legality Of Health Insurance Mandate

by Louise March 25, 2010

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. [...]

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Health Insurance Options For Young Adults

by Louise March 24, 2010

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. [...]

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Colorado HB 1166 Makes Insurance Easier To Understand

by Louise March 22, 2010

[...] 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. [...]

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CBO Numbers Convince Colorado Rep To Vote Yes

by Louise March 19, 2010

Colorado Representative Betsy Markey has announced that she will vote yes on the health care reform bill on Sunday, following her no vote last November. The new CBO numbers that were released this week apparently had a lot to do with her decision; she stated that reducing the deficit by “$138 billion in the first 10 years, $1.2 trillion in the second 10 years — those are figures I simply cannot ignore.” The CBO numbers are better than expected, and will likely convince some fence-riding Democrats to vote for the bill. [...]

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A Good Start With Colorado Senate Bill 115

by Louise March 16, 2010

[...] Ultimately, I’d like to see us reach a point where medication waste is virtually eliminated. Medication bottles that allow pills to be removed but not re-inserted, or a switch to only using blister packs for pills, could allow even partially used prescriptions to be returned to pharmacies for redistribution. And with the cost of prescriptions becoming more of a barrier between patients and needed treatment, the destruction of perfectly good unused medication seems like a travesty.

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