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Colorado Health Insurance Insider

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Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield

Anthem Introduces New Accident And Critical Illness Benefits In Colorado

May 14, 2012 By Jay Norris

[…] For individuals and families who are healthy and rarely need their health insurance benefits, an accident may be their primary concern. Obviously we’re all susceptible to illness aswell, but accidents have a more “out of the blue” quality to them, and can happen to even the healthiest of people. We’ve never needed our health insurance due to illness, but we’ve had a few injuries over the years that have been pretty costly. Stitches and x-rays on our son’s finger alone came to $1,400. The charges can add up quickly when you’re in an emergency room, and if you have a high deductible health insurance policy, you’d be responsible for the entire bill for an incident like that. An accident supplement that will cover all or a portion of the deductible can help people feel more at ease with a high deductible (ie, less expensive) health insurance policy.

The accident supplement portion of Balance will coordinate with your health insurance, so it will pay you either your out-of-pocket amount or the Balance benefit maximum, which ever is lower. For example, if your out-of-pocket expenses for an accident – after health insurance has paid its portion – come to $1750 and you have the $2500 benefit Balance plan, you’ll get $1750 in supplemental coverage. But if your out-of-pocket expenses come to $4500, you’ll get the full $2500. The critical illness benefit is a lump-sum payment, but the amount paid depends on the specific diagnosis.

With the introduction of Balance, Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield has added another solid plan to the options available for individuals and families in Colorado who are looking for an accident and critical illness supplement to go along with their health insurance policy.

Filed Under: Accident/Injury, Anthem Blue Cross

Best Health Insurance Companies In Colorado

May 7, 2012 By Jay Norris

We recently got a call from a client who mentioned that he had done a Google search for the “best health insurance companies in Colorado” and his concern was that Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield was not on the top ten list that he said came up as the first search result.  We were a… Read more about Best Health Insurance Companies In Colorado

Filed Under: Aetna, Anthem Blue Cross, Colorado Division Of Insurance, Group Health, Humana, Individual/Family Health, Kaiser Permanente, Rocky Mountain, United Healthcare

Details From Anthem On Preventive Care And Contraceptive Coverage

May 1, 2012 By Louise Norris

Last week we added a post about contraceptive coverage under the PPACA and what changes people could expect to see starting in August. We just received an information sheet regarding this subject from Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, and wanted to share it with our readers. It will be useful for our Anthem clients, and is also helpful to give people a rough idea of how the contraceptive coverage will be implemented by most carriers. There may be some small variations from one carrier to another, but in most cases things will be similar across the board, since federal legislation is guiding the changes.

The Anthem preventive care info sheet is relevant in Colorado and nine other states where Anthem operates Blue Cross Blue Shield plans, and applies to individual health insurance as well as small and large group plans.

The Anthem info sheet specifically notes that sterilization procedures for men are not included in the new contraceptive coverage – which is the conclusion I came to last week after quite a bit of reading on the subject – since all of the guidelines apply to adding contraceptive coverage to preventive care for women rather than preventive care in general. […]

Filed Under: Affordable Care Act (ACA), Anthem Blue Cross, Health Care Reform, Health Insurance Reform, Individual/Family Health, Insurance Companies

Health Insurance Exchange Payroll and Admin Expenses

October 20, 2011 By Louise Norris

[…] One of the comments on the post was from Dede de Percin, the Executive Director of the Colorado Consumer Health Initiative (CCHI). […] Dede’s comment on my article referenced the point I made about consumers not having to pay additional fees to have a broker. Basically, health insurance is priced the same whether you go directly through a health insurance carrier (calling Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield directly, for example) or through a broker (who will compare options from multiple carriers for you). Dede made this point:
“While a consumer or business doesn’t not pay a health insurance broker directly, broker fees and commissions are paid by the insurance companies – and rolled into […]”

Filed Under: Anthem Blue Cross, Cigna, Colorado Division Of Insurance, Health Care Reform, Health Insurance Exchanges, Health Insurance Reform, Individual/Family Health, Insurance Companies

Stuck In A Mini-Med

October 6, 2011 By Louise Norris

[…] So he applied for an individual policy with Anthem Blue Cross for his family, and was approved. But then when he tried to cancel his mini-med plan, his employer told him that he couldn’t cancel it until the open enrollment period next April. It would seem that trapping enrollees into a year-long contract with a mini-med plan is not in line with the spirit of the HHS guidelines that call for full disclosure regarding the waivers and directives to steer enrollees towards healthcare dot gov if they are interested in getting a policy that does comply with the ACA rules regarding annual policy limits. […]

Filed Under: Anthem Blue Cross, Colorado Division Of Insurance, Group Health, Health Care Goodies, Health Care Reform, Health Insurance Reform, Individual/Family Health

Decline And Rate Up Statistics – Interesting But Confusing

September 12, 2011 By Louise Norris

[…] Your policy will cost the same amount regardless of whether you use a broker, but an experienced broker will be able to help you make sense of the plan comparison information, including the underwriting statistics. A policy or carrier’s statistical likelihood of declining or rating up any one application isn’t really relevant to each specific client… what is relevant however, is each carrier’s underwriting guidelines for the particular pre-existing condition the applicant has. […]

Filed Under: Anthem Blue Cross, Cigna, Health Insurance Reform, Individual/Family Health, Rocky Mountain, United Healthcare

Colorado DOI Improving Transparency Of Rate Review Process

September 8, 2011 By Louise Norris

[…] This should help boost public participation in the rate review discussion, and add to the general understanding of how the rate review process works. The DOI is obviously working hard to create as much transparency as possible with regards to rate increases. Rates will continue to increase as long as the cost of health care continues to climb (and as long as we continue to increase our utilization of health care) but at least the logic behind the rate increases will be more clear.

Filed Under: Anthem Blue Cross, Colorado Division Of Insurance, Individual/Family Health

August Open Enrollment Period For Child Only Policies In Colorado

August 16, 2011 By Louise Norris

For parents looking for child-only policies in Colorado, we are in the middle of the 2011 open enrollment period, which will end August 31st. All carriers that offer individual health insurance policies for adults must also offer (during open enrollment periods only) at least one plan option for a child applying without an adult on the policy. This is pursuant to Colorado Senate Bill 128, which was signed into law earlier this year. Following the passage of SB128, the Colorado Division of Insurance stepped in to clarify the issue with emergency regulation E-11-03, which has specific details about the implementation of the law. […]

Filed Under: Anthem Blue Cross, Colorado Division Of Insurance, Health Insurance Reform, Individual/Family Health

Hot Colorado Sunset

Rate Review Process Does Not Keep Premiums Artificially Low

June 16, 2011 By Louise Norris

[…] 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.

Filed Under: Anthem Blue Cross, Humana, Individual/Family Health

Anthem Blue Cross, Assurant, and Rocky Mountain Quoting 2011 Plans and Rates

December 20, 2010 By Jay Norris

Anyone looking to compare plans with 2011 rates can start with Anthem BCBS, Assurant, and Rocky Mountain Health Plans (get quotes here).  These will include maternity coverage. More coming this week….

Filed Under: Anthem Blue Cross, Individual/Family Health, Insurance Companies, Maternity/Pregnancy, Rocky Mountain

Funding Cover Colorado

November 10, 2010 By Louise Norris

For nearly two decades, Cover Colorado has been providing health insurance to people in Colorado who don’t have access to group health insurance coverage and have pre-existing conditions the make them uninsurable (or unable to get coverage without exclusion riders or rate increases that put their premium above that offered by Cover Colorado) in the individual health insurance market. While we’re lucky to have such a resource, it doesn’t come cheap […]

Filed Under: Group Health, Health Insurance Reform, Individual/Family Health, Insurance Companies

Maternity Coverage In The Individual Health Insurance Market

October 15, 2010 By Louise Norris

The House Committee on Energy and Commerce released a memorandum this week detailing the practices of the four largest private health insurance carriers (Aetna, Humana, UnitedHealth Group and Wellpoint) regarding maternity coverage on individual policies. For anyone who is familiar with the individual health insurance market, the details of the memo will come as no surprise. But since the majority of Americans are covered by group health insurance plans that cover maternity just like any other claim, the details of how maternity coverage works in the individual market may be eye-opening for a lot of people. […]

Filed Under: Aetna, Anthem Blue Cross, Health Insurance Reform, Humana, Individual/Family Health, Maternity/Pregnancy, United Healthcare

Regulators And Insurers Still Working On Child-Only Coverage Issue

September 29, 2010 By Louise Norris

[…] So far, none of the carriers who had backed out of the child-only market have commented on whether the open enrollment periods might make them change their minds, but AHIP (America’s Health Insurance Plans) has said that they are continuing to work with regulators to try to find solutions that would make the child-only market feasible for insurers in the future.

Filed Under: Aetna, Anthem Blue Cross, Health Insurance Reform, Humana, Individual/Family Health, United Healthcare

Colorado Division Of Insurance Still Reviewing Rates

September 21, 2010 By Louise Norris

We mentioned last week that the Colorado Division of Insurance had not yet approved rates past 9/23 for several carriers, and unfortunately, that is still the situation. For carriers that allow any effective date, quotes can still be generated for 9/22, but carriers that only allow 1st and 15th of the month effective dates are unable to quote new policies now (and have been since 9/15) if their rates have not been approved. This is causing a bit of a traffic jam for people who are searching for a new individual health insurance policy right now. […]

Filed Under: Advice, Anthem Blue Cross, Individual/Family Health, Insurance Companies

Healthcare.gov A Good Resource For Brokers

September 17, 2010 By Louise Norris

I spent some time on the Healthcare.gov website this morning, and found some great resources that could be particularly helpful for people with pre-existing conditions who are unable to obtain coverage in the individual market. The website was set up in conjunction with the PPACA and was designed to help people navigate the myriad of health insurance options available, along with the changes that will happen over the next few years as the provisions of the PPACA go into effect. […]

Filed Under: Aetna, Anthem Blue Cross, Individual/Family Health, Maternity/Pregnancy

Quoting Blackout On Most Plans and Effective Dates

September 17, 2010 By Jay Norris

Many plans with most carriers still haven’t gotten the rates approved past 9/23. These plans with carriers like Anthem BCBS can still be quoted with effective dates of 9/22 and before.
Carriers like Cigna only have 1st and 15th of the month effective date options. Therefore, rates and plans are not being quoted at all until the DOI approves their rates. Hopefully any moment.
Make sure to subscribe via email or follow us on Facebook for rate approval updates.

Filed Under: Aetna, Anthem Blue Cross, Humana, Individual/Family Health, Insurance Companies, Kaiser Permanente, Rocky Mountain, United Healthcare

Money For Health Insurance Premium Increase Reviews

September 1, 2010 By Louise Norris

[…] Colorado will get $1 million to use for more extensive review of future rate increases, and the Division of Insurance has proposed hiring more analysts and actuaries to examine the data that is filed each year by the insurance carriers. The rate proposals will get more scrutiny, which is a good protective measure for consumers. But insureds could still see hefty rate increases thanks to the ever-increasing cost of health care. […]

Filed Under: Anthem Blue Cross, Health Insurance Reform, Individual/Family Health

Not Many Details Yet On Maternity Coverage In Colorado

August 13, 2010 By Louise Norris

[…] We still have several months left in 2009 for regulators and insurance companies to work out the details, and I’m sure we’ll know more by the end of the year. When you combine this with the new Colorado law banning gender rating on health insurance policies, and the myriad of reforms coming from the federal government, I’d say that health insurance regulators in Denver are going to have their hands full for a while.

Filed Under: Aetna, Anthem Blue Cross, Group Health, Health Insurance Reform, Humana, Individual/Family Health, Maternity/Pregnancy, Policy

When Less Is More

April 30, 2010 By Louise Norris

[…] The problem is that health insurance companies are paying for care with premium dollars collected from insureds, and as costs go up, so do premiums. Until we shift our attitude to a “less is more” mentality, we’re going to continue to see an increase in the cost of care, and subsequently in the cost of health insurance. But it’s not just about money. Articles like Maggie’s should give us a reason to question excessive screening and testing, simply from a standpoint of having a better quality of life. The fact that it could drive down health care costs is a bonus.

Filed Under: Anthem Blue Cross, Health Care Goodies

Anthem Rate Increase Likely Justified By Cost Of Claims

April 29, 2010 By Louise Norris

[…] As I noted last month, while Anthem’s rate increase for 2010 was a big one, their premiums are still very much in line with premiums currently being charged by other individual health insurance carriers in Colorado. My guess is that de Percin’s take on this is probably correct: “… it is outrageous but it’s probably not a case of gouging.”

Filed Under: Anthem Blue Cross, Health Insurance Reform, Individual/Family Health

Three Of The Top Insurers Extending A Hand To Young Adults

April 23, 2010 By Louise Norris

Three of the nation’s top health insurance carriers – Wellpoint, United Healthcare, and Humana – have announced that they will automatically keep young adults under the age of 26 on their parents’ policies between now and September 23, when the health care reform legislation guarantees this option for all everyone under the age of 26. […]

Filed Under: Anthem Blue Cross, Group Health, Health Insurance Reform, Humana, Individual/Family Health, United Healthcare

Colorado Division Of Insurance Reconsidering Anthem Rate Increase

March 1, 2010 By Jay Norris

[…] But these numbers would seem to indicate that while Anthem’s rate increase may have been large, it seems to be in line with what other carriers are charging in Colorado. For the little test I conducted, Anthem’s premium was the second-lowest I found, and the only one with a lower premium had an additional thousand dollars in out of pocket exposure.

Filed Under: Aetna, Anthem Blue Cross, Denver, HSA, Humana, Individual/Family Health, Kaiser Permanente, United Healthcare

Competition Among Private Health Insurance Companies

February 26, 2010 By Louise Norris

[…] I will be interested to see more on the Wellpoint story as the rate increases are investigated this spring, but I imagine that it’s not a simple problem or one that has a simple solution. It’s true that Wellpoint is in business to make money. But a dramatic, highly publicized rate increase is bad for business, and it’s hard to explain it away as a company simply trying to raise profits.

Filed Under: Anthem Blue Cross, Individual/Family Health

Wellpoint Premium Increases Provide Strong Case For Mandate

February 24, 2010 By Louise Norris

[…] People who buy their own health insurance must pay the whole bill, every month. When it’s time for their rate increase, there’s no employer shouldering part of the burden. The option to continue or drop coverage is there every month when it’s time to pay the premium… and if it comes to a decision between the rent or the health insurance, it’s easy to understand how a healthy person might opt to go uninsured.

Filed Under: Anthem Blue Cross, Group Health, Health Insurance Reform, Individual/Family Health

Cadillac Tax Could Impact Non Cadillac Plans Too

January 21, 2010 By Louise Norris

[…] But setting a flat dollar amount above which a plan will be taxed seems ill-advised. It doesn’t really do a good job of weeding out health insurance plans that truly have too many bells and whistles, and it wrongly penalizes people who live in areas where health care costs are higher than average, or companies with a disproportionate number of older workers.

Filed Under: Anthem Blue Cross, Group Health, Health Insurance Reform, Insurance Companies

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