June 2011

Tips For Sorting Through Medigap Advertising

by Louise June 29, 2011

[...] I would add that the advertising tactics Trudy mentions also apply to regular health insurance plans too – not just those related to Medicare. Unfortunately, health insurance advertising can sometimes get a bit murky. If in doubt, always ask for more details or get a second opinion… and as with most things, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is (there’s no such thing as comprehensive individual health insurance for $150/month for a family of four with no deductible and all pre-existing conditions covered).

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Grand Rounds Vol. 7 No. 40

by Louise June 28, 2011

Welcome to Grand Rounds! It’s the third time we’ve hosted Grand Rounds at the Colorado Health Insurance Insider and we’re honored to be hosting again. It was a pleasure to read so many great articles for this edition. Since our blog tends to focus on health care policy and reform, I’m starting things off with the posts that pertain to that topic. Enjoy!

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PVHS and UCH Begin Process Of Creating A Joint Hospital System

by Louise June 23, 2011

[...] The merger is expected to provide numerous benefits for both hospital systems, and will presumably make for lower total operating/administrative costs than they would have if they weren’t working together. As health care costs continue to climb, this should help both hospitals continue to provide quality care to their patients. It’s also reasonable to assume that the merger will be beneficial for UCH and PVHS patients, since access to both hospital system’s strengths will likely be available to patients in both Denver and Northern Colorado. [...]

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Support For Hospital Fees Varies From One State To Another

by Louise June 22, 2011

[...] This is a good example of how similar legislation does not necessarily have the same support or outcomes in different states. That’s not to say that the Health Care Affordability Act is universally supported in Colorado – it’s not. But it’s working relatively well as a vehicle to fund Medicaid here and to support Colorado hospitals that treat a large number of uninsured patients.

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Call For Grand Rounds Submissions

by Louise June 22, 2011

We’re honored to be hosting Grand Rounds next week, on June 28th.  Please send me your medical/health care posts by 8pm mountain time on Sunday, the 26th.  No theme this week – just pick your favorite recent post.  Submissions can be emailed to me at louisen78 [at] gmail [dot] com.  I look forward to reading your articles!

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Biased Language In Employer Health Insurance Survey

by Louise June 21, 2011

[...] Overall, the survey is very thorough, the questions are mostly objective, and the data obtained from 1300 employers is no doubt a useful barometer of current employer attitudes towards health care reform. But I imagine that if the sentence about assuming that exchanges will make individual health insurance easy and affordable had not been included, the number of employers who said that they plan to drop their group plans might not have been so high. Time will tell.

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Rate Review Process Does Not Keep Premiums Artificially Low

by Louise June 16, 2011

[...] If the rates are justified, they’ll likely be approved – even if the amount of the increase is distastefully large. The DOI is not trying to keep premiums artificially low or force carriers to cut out legitimate claims expenses. Having rates approved by the DOI does not mean that the people of Colorado get smaller-than-average premium increases. Rather, it means that although our rate increases are sometimes substantial, we know that those rates are justified as a reflection of increasing claims costs.

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Aetna Purchasing Genworth’s Medigap Business

by Louise June 15, 2011

The first of the Baby Boomers turn 65 this year, and health insurance carriers are paying attention. Aetna has agreed to purchase Genworth’s Medicare supplement business for $290 million. Going forward, Aetna expects to post yearly gains from the Medicare supplement (also known as Medigap) business. This makes sense given that the Baby Boomers will be flooding into the Medicare (and Medicare supplement) system over the next two decades. [...]

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Expanding Eligibility For Federally Administered High Risk Pool Coverage

by Louise June 8, 2011

[...] The 27 states (including Colorado) that administer their own PCIPs have been notified by HHS that they can modify their programs in a similar manner. As of this morning, the GettingUSCovered website still has the same eligibility guidelines that it has always had: a letter from a private carrier stating that the applicant has been declined, or approved with an exclusion on a pre-existing condition. [...]

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