So while it would be nice to think that everyone who gets an HDHP is also setting up an HSA, funding it little by little until the account has enough money stashed away to cover the deductible, and then shopping around diligently for health care and avoiding unnecessary treatment – the reality is a bit different. Many of our Colorado clients who enroll in an HDHP do not set up an HSA […]
health insurance
Health Insurance Premiums For Smokers
Individual health insurance carriers in Colorado typically consider tobacco use when setting premiums. Rate increases vary from one company to another, and sometimes depend on other factors like age, BMI, blood pressure, and cholesterol levels. When Aetna entered the individual market in Colorado, their underwriting did not call for a increase in price for a… Read more about Health Insurance Premiums For Smokers
United Healthcare Settlement
[…] needs to be focusing on efficiency, service, and honesty. Anything less is likely to be looked at sharply as lawmakers and industry insiders work to lower the cost of healthcare and increase access to care for all Americans. I’m glad to see that United Healthcare – one of our major Colorado health insurers – has laid the SEC problem to rest and seems to be headed in the right direction.
Independence Cavalcade Of Risk
the 21st century involves exciting details like choosing an HSA qualified health insurance policy and making sure that we have adequate liability insurance for our cars. Much preferable to sticking my neck out as a traitor against the British Monarchy. Without further ado, the Colorado Health Insurance Insider presents the Independence Cavalcade of Risk […]
Why Would It Not Work Here?
We Stand Firm has written an interesting article about the Colorado Medical Society and their support of health care coverage for Coloradans that should be “universal, continuous, portable, and mandatory.” I’m strongly in favor of health insurance for everyone in Colorado (and indeed, the US) that is universal, continuous, portable, and mandatory. I know this… Read more about Why Would It Not Work Here?
Colorado Businesses Don’t Want Mandatory Health Insurance
The Blue Ribbon Commission for health care reform in Colorado has recommended a mandate for health insurance coverage, but not necessarily coverage that is tied to employment. And it should come as no surprise that business owners on the western slope – just like business owners all over Colorado – are not excited about the idea of being required to provide employees […]
HR676 Headed In The Right Direction
I agree with PICU that it’s tough for individual voices to be heard in the healthcare reform process. Some stares are making an effort at reform – including Colorado – but it’s going to take unified, nationwide changes to really fix our health care system. Unfortunately there is a long line of deep-pocketed special interest groups who are deeply invested in maintaining the status quo […]
Elective Cesareans Not A Complication Of Pregnancy
We got a notice in the mail yesterday from Humana, one of the health insurance carriers we represent in Colorado. They have revised their definition of complication of pregnancy to include cesareans, but not elective cesareans. I was very pleased to see this, and I’m glad that Humana is differentiating between the two. Obviously someone who schedules a c-section […]
HR 6210 Won’t Solve The Problem For Small Groups
We frequently get calls from employers here in Colorado who have three or four employees and would like to offer health insurance. But when they find out that the premiums are going to be a few thousand dollars a month, they realize that there is no way they can fit health insurance into their budget. Pooling together with other small businesses will help, but not […]
Number Of Underinsureds Rising Rapidly
While an employee at a big company might consider $500 to be a high deductible, the majority of our individual health insurance clients in Colorado choose deductibles between $2000 and $5000, in order to keep the premiums down. That same employee at the big company may only be paying a few dollars a week for health insurance (with the employer paying […]
Mandatory Health Insurance Not Likely
In Colorado, two of the top five proposals being considered last year by the Blue Ribbon Commission included mandatory health insurance, and they’ve done it in MA – residents there are currently paying fines if they don’t have health insurance in place. But with Clinton out of the race, nationwide mandatory health insurance isn’t likely to come to […]
Preventing Diabetes
Now researchers in a long-term study have found that a healthy lifestyle followed for six years continues to lower the risk for developing type 2 diabetes for another 14 years. That’s a pretty impressive result. Here in Colorado, nearly 221,000 people have diabetes […]
Colorado HB1389 Passes House And Senate
HB 1389, the Fair Accountable Insurance Rates Act of 2008, has passed the Colorado House and Senate, and is headed to governor Bill Ritter for his signature next month. Health insurance companies doing business in Colorado will now be required to get approval from the state before enacting rate increases, and will have to disclose… Read more about Colorado HB1389 Passes House And Senate
McCain Health Care Hangs States Out To Dry
In Colorado, we’re lucky to have Cover Colorado available for uninsurable residents who do not have access to other coverage. At least our state has a high risk pool that is open to new enrollees and provides health insurance for people who would otherwise be uninsured. But it’s far from ideal. The policies are expensive and the out of pocket costs are higher than […]
Google Health Launches
If their doctors could log onto the site and update it, allowing the other providers across Colorado and the world to keep abreast of what is being done for the patient, it could streamline the treatment process and allow doctors to work in unison instead of having to wait for records to be faxed or mailed from one office to another. I can see lots of potential for Google Health […]
More Regulation In Pharmaceutical Advertising
…drug industry has launched a huge advertising campaign – next time you’re watching TV, see how many ads go by before you see at least one for a prescription. The Colorado Health Insurance Insider has addressed this problem before, and it seems that lawmakers are starting to notice the impact that TV advertising of pharmaceuticals is […]
I Do – As Long As You Have Health Insurance
A new poll shows that 7% of Americans have married in the last year in order to obtain coverage through a spouse’s health insurance policy. And nearly a quarter of Americans have kept or changed jobs in the last year because of health insurance. These are major life decisions – marriage and careers […]
High Deductible Health Plans Are Popular In Colorado
A study conducted by America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) shows that Colorado ranks fifth in the nation for health savings account and high deductible health plan membership as a percentage of the state’s total private health insurance population […]
Midwifery Care Is Good For Health Insurance Carriers
…in Colorado there is no such thing as home-birth coverage on individual policies. In fact, there are only a handful of health insurance carriers in Colorado that offer maternity coverage on individual policies at all, and for most people, the coverage provided isn’t worth the extra premium […]
Smoking Can Be Hazardous To Your Career
Whirlpool has suspended 39 employees for lying about tobacco use, and the employees could face termination once their cases are investigated by the company. At the Colorado Health Insurance Insider, we’ve written about wellness programs that are becoming more common among large employers, and about our disappointment that the DOL is starting to consider wellness… Read more about Smoking Can Be Hazardous To Your Career
Colorado HB1389 Needs Some Work
Health insurance premiums in Colorado have been rising far more than wages for years. Jay and I pay more than twice as much now for our high deductible health insurance policy compared with what we were paying five years ago. We talk with clients all the time who are considering going without health insurance because the premiums […]
Dying For Health Insurance
We’ve all read the articles about how much more likely an uninsured person is to die from a treatable illness, compared with their insured neighbors. Now we have some concrete numbers. Families USA is a national organization for health care consumers, and today they released a very comprehensive state-by-state report showing how many people die… Read more about Dying For Health Insurance
Why Is There A Balance To Bill In The First Place?
In CA, regulators are working to impose a ban on “balance billing” – the practice of billing patients for amounts over what their health insurance companies will pay for a given procedure. While most health insurance networks prohibit balance billing, there are only eight states that regulate the practice, and a good number of patients… Read more about Why Is There A Balance To Bill In The First Place?
Capping Health Insurance Premiums
David Williams at the Health Business Blog has written a post about Clinton’s plan to cap health insurance premiums at 5% – 10% of a family’s income. With a US median income of nearly $50,000/year, health insurance premiums would be somewhere in the range of $2500 – $5000/year, which as Mr. Williams points out, doesn’t… Read more about Capping Health Insurance Premiums
Just About Everyone Agrees That Something Needs To Be Done
How often do you see a poll where 95% of the respondents agree on an issue? That’s the percentage of the more than 26,000 people recruited to take an online survey about health care in America, who believe that our health care system needs fundamental and major changes. Most of the respondents have jobs, a… Read more about Just About Everyone Agrees That Something Needs To Be Done