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Colorado Health Insurance Insider

Cutting edge health insurance analysis. Licensed broker assistance.

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Humana

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

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

Humana 2011 Rates Are Official

December 30, 2010 By Jay Norris

Clients in Colorado can now get quotes and apply for HumanaOne with effective dates of 1/1/2011 or later.  Remember, these will include maternity coverage as a base benefit.  Existing members with an Enhanced, Copay, HSA, or Value plan will receive these benefit changes at the time of their renewal. For clients who have an Autograph,… Read more about Humana 2011 Rates Are Official

Filed Under: Humana, 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

Guaranteed Issue Policies For Children Happened Too Quickly

September 8, 2010 By Louise Norris

[…] Regardless of the practicalities involved, there’s no doubt that the headlines about insurers ceasing to issue child-only policies is generating some ill will and bad PR for insurance carriers. Either lawmakers knew that would happen, or else they put very little thought into considering the details of how insurers would go about making children’s coverage guaranteed issue a mere six months after the bill was signed into law, and just added the provision as a feel-good part of the bill.

Filed Under: Aetna, Health Insurance Reform, Humana, Individual/Family Health, Providers, United Healthcare

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

Health Insurance Carriers Continuing To Improve

June 16, 2010 By Louise Norris

A year ago I wrote an article about how health insurance companies were generally doing a better job in 2008 of paying claims faster and denying fewer claims than they did in 2007. The annual Athena Health study results are now out for 2009, and overall there was another significant increase in the speed with which health insurance companies paid claims (7 days faster than in 2008) and a decline among most payers in terms of the percentage of claims denied. […]

Filed Under: Health Care Goodies, Humana, Providers

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

The Value We Get From Our Healthcare Dollars

March 10, 2010 By Louise Norris

[…] Perhaps the question we should be asking is not who should be paying for healthcare, but rather, why in the world are we paying so much in the first place? Health insurance premiums will continue to rise as long as health care costs do the same. It won’t do any good to try to address premiums without first figuring out why we’re paying so much for our health care in the first place, and doing something about it.

Filed Under: Accident/Injury, Health Insurance Reform, HSA, Humana

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

How The Pharmaceutical Industry Drives Health Care Costs

October 27, 2009 By Louise Norris

My father has been on dialysis for eight years. He has Wegener’s Granulomatosis, a rare autoimmune disease, and it destroyed his kidneys very suddenly in 2001. His illness came out of the blue, following a lifetime of good health, and has given my parents an up-close look at our health care system. Because he has kidney failure, my father qualified for Medicare. But until the advent of Medicare Part D in January 2006, my parents had to pay for all of his medications out of pocket.

Dialysis does not remove phosphate, so my father has to be on a drug that prevents phosphate from building up in his blood. In 2002, he was on PhosLo, a brand name drug, because the generic wasn’t available. At that time, a three month supply cost $108.25. Now, seven years later, he takes the generic version (calcium acetate) and a three month supply is $528.29 (a 488% increase in price). Humana, his Medicare D carrier, picks up the tab, but we all know that claims […]

Filed Under: Health Insurance Reform, Humana, Individual/Family Health, Medicare

The Impact Of Medical Underwriting On Premiums

September 11, 2009 By Louise Norris

[…] Many proponents of a shift away from medical underwriting want to require everyone to carry health insurance. That would help spread the cost of care across a larger population, and would likely help to contain the price increase that we would see if medical underwriting were to cease. But my guess is that we would still see a rather dramatic increase in premiums.

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

Complaint Ratios Updated With 2008 Data

August 25, 2009 By Jay Norris

The Colorado Division of Insurance has finished compiling and organizing the data for 2008. Visit the Colorado Health Insurance Company Complaint Ratio Comparison page to see the updated complaint, revenue, and market share statistics from the division of insurance along with the A.M. Best Rating information we’ve added […]

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

Removing An Exclusion Rider On Our Policy

June 15, 2009 By Louise Norris

[…] It’s a lot of hoops to jump through, but if you have an individual health insurance policy in a state like Colorado that allows pre-existing condition exclusion riders, you might want to double check to see if your rider can be re-evaluated. Most carriers in Colorado require that the condition be resolved for at least a year before you can request a review of the rider. […]

Filed Under: Broomfield, HSA, Humana, Individual/Family Health

Humana Approved Our Appeal

June 4, 2009 By Louise Norris

[…] We’re thrilled with Humana’s decision, and we’re glad to be able to offer their policies to our clients in Colorado. Jay’s knees are really the first time we’ve had to use our health insurance for anything more than preventive care, and we’re happy to be able to report that everything has worked the way it’s supposed to. […]

Filed Under: HSA, Humana, Individual/Family Health

Health Insurance Companies Performing Better

June 2, 2009 By Louise Norris

[…] health insurance companies are indeed working to be better stewards for the customers they serve – insureds and providers. In 2008 (vs 2007), health insurance companies paid providers 5.3% faster and denied 9% fewer claims. This is what the health insurance industry is in business to do: pay claims, and pay them quickly. […]

Filed Under: Aetna, Humana, Individual/Family Health, Insurance Companies

Too Important To Fail

April 21, 2009 By Louise Norris

[…] I would argue that instead of being considered too big to fail, major health insurance carriers might be seen as too important to fail. AIG’s collapse would have been primarily indirect, but health insurance companies work directly with individual Americans. Even in large groups, individual employees are the ones who carry the id cards with the insurance carrier’s logo on them. […]

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

Some Thoughts On Colorado HB1224

February 23, 2009 By Louise Norris

[…] I looked at premiums for $5,000 deductible HSA qualified policies from Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, Aetna, Assurant, Cigna, Humana, and United HealthOne. If lawmakers disallow the use of gender to determine individual health insurance premiums in Colorado, younger women and older men will have lower premiums, while younger men and older women will have higher premiums. There won’t be any actual benefit to the overall population – health insurance premiums will just be averaged for men and women.

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

The Cost Of Individual Health Insurance In Colorado

October 1, 2008 By Louise Norris

[…] Of course Colorado – like most states – uses medical underwriting on individual health insurance policies. And if underwriting were no longer allowed on Colorado policies, we could very well see the average family premium exceed $700/month. But for now, $5000 goes a long way towards paying for a health insurance policy in Colorado. […]

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

Running Out Of Benefits

July 14, 2008 By Louise Norris

Perhaps all private health insurance could cover up to $5 million, and then for the tiny percentage of patients who need coverage beyond that amount, a government catastrophic insurance policy could kick in. If you end up needing 100 doctor visits a year, and high-end drugs, and weeks in an ICU, you shouldn’t have to worry that your health insurance is going to run out.

Filed Under: Health Insurance Reform, Individual/Family Health

Submit Your Ideas For Health Care Reform

July 7, 2008 By Louise Norris

It’s good to see a major health insurance carrier that we represent here in Colorado is spearheading this quest for ideas and change. In the best interests of the American public, the health insurance industry will need to be adaptable over the next several years. Without some major changes to the whole health care system, there is no sign that health insurance premiums […]

Filed Under: Health Insurance Reform, Humana

Elective Cesareans Not A Complication Of Pregnancy

June 19, 2008 By Louise Norris

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 […]

Filed Under: Fort Collins, Group Health, Health Insurance Reform, Humana, Individual/Family Health, Insurance Companies, Maternity/Pregnancy

A Health Insurance Report Card

June 17, 2008 By Louise Norris

Included in the ratings are Aetna, Anthem BCBS, Cigna, Coventry, Health Net, Humana, United Healthcare, and Medicare. In the individual health insurance market in Colorado, we deal extensively with Aetna, Anthem, Humana, and United Healthcare, so I was especially curious […]

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

Surprise Medical Bill from Out-of-Network DME Provider

April 14, 2008 By Louise Norris

We got a bill last week for $397 from the company that provided Jay’s crutches, knee brace, and ice machine when he had knee surgery in January. The surgery was done at the Vail Valley Medical Center in Vail, Colorado, by Dr. Steadman; both the hospital and the doctor are on our Humana PPO network…. Read more about Surprise Medical Bill from Out-of-Network DME Provider

Filed Under: HSA, Humana, Providers

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