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Colorado Health Insurance Insider

Cutting edge health insurance analysis. Licensed broker assistance.

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premiums

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

Conflicting Data Regarding Medical Costs

October 13, 2011 By Louise Norris

[…] These numbers are much more in line with the rise in health insurance premiums that we’ve seen over the past few years. I have no explanation for why the data from the two sources is so dramatically different in terms of medical trend in 2010, but if the trend was really closer to 7.5% rather than 1.7%, the health insurance premium increases would be a lot easier to understand. […] In addition to the MLR rules, some states (including Colorado) have implemented strict review processes for rate hikes. The ACA now calls for insurers who propose a rate hike of 10% or more […]

Filed Under: Colorado Division Of Insurance, Group Health, Health Care Goodies, Health Care Reform, Health Insurance Reform, HSA, Individual/Family Health, Insurance Companies

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

A Good Summary Of The HHS Proposed Regulations For Exchanges

July 21, 2011 By Louise Norris

[…] The proposed regulations from HHS for the exchanges come to 244 pages, but Timothy notes that they are “practical, sensible, and functional” and that HHS tried to simplify things wherever possible, rather than complicate them. For anyone who wants to get the gist of the proposed regulations without reading the 244 pages that HHS released this month, I highly recommend that you check out Timothy’s article. […]

Filed Under: Health Insurance Exchanges, Health Insurance Reform, Individual/Family Health

One Size Does Not Fit All

July 18, 2011 By Louise Norris

[…] A person with a set amount of money that can be devoted to life insurance premiums will be able to purchase significantly more face value if she goes with term coverage. But the insurance will be in place for the rest of her life if she goes with permanent coverage (assuming she doesn’t cancel it). There’s no one-size-fits-all answer to whether term or permanent life insurance is a better option, and it depends largely on the person’s budget, face value needs, and long term planning. […]

Filed Under: Health Care Goodies, HSA

Health Insurance Does Not Always Prevent Medical Debt

July 6, 2011 By Louise Norris

[…] Chances are, if you have a claim on your home or auto policy, it will be because of a one-time incident like a fire or a car accident. That can be the case with a health claim too, of course, but many times a large claim on a health insurance policy can be the result of a chronic condition or one that will need extensive long-term treatment. A person might have health insurance at the start of the ordeal, but may lose coverage as time goes on […]

Filed Under: Group Health, HSA, 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

HHS To Stop Accepting Early Retiree Reinsurance Applications After May 5, 2011

April 4, 2011 By Louise Norris

[…] Although the program has proven quite popular – as of last month, HHS had approved approximately 5850 applications – one of the concerns from the beginning was that the $5 billion allocated to the ERRP might not be sufficient to last until 2014. HHS said from the start that they would only accept applications as long as they had enough available funding. They have now announced that they will not accept any new applications after May 5, 2011. […]

Filed Under: Group Health, Health Care Reform, Individual/Family Health

Spending Caps Will Help Individual Families But Won’t Reduce Overall Costs

March 30, 2011 By Louise Norris

[…] But although the spending caps will be beneficial to families that have large medical expenses, they do nothing to actually address the rising cost of health care, and the over-utilization that is also driving costs. This has been a recurring theme with a lot of the provisions created by health care reform: we’re finding ways to spread the costs in a more equitable fashion, but we’re not really addressing the fact that the total cost burden of health care in this country isn’t sustainable on its current trajectory, no matter how much we spread it out across the population.

Filed Under: Group Health, Health Care Reform, Health Insurance Reform, HSA, Individual/Family Health

Peace Of Mind With Automated Payment Of Health Insurance Premiums

January 31, 2011 By Louise Norris

[…] If you sign up for automated payments, there’s nothing to remember. You don’t have to worry about your health insurance lapsing because a bill didn’t arrive, or because you forgot to send in a check. You don’t have to worry about making a typo or accidentally sending an underpayment. And in a lot of cases it’s less expensive to have automated payments set up too – some carriers charge an additional fee if you opt to receive a bill and mail a check for your premium.

Filed Under: Health Care Goodies, Insurance Companies

Health Care Costs Are The Driving Factor Behind Premium Hikes

January 10, 2011 By Louise Norris

I’ve long supported the idea that our health care system was in need of reform that would make care more affordable and accessible to everyone, regardless of their health or financial situation. But I’m starting to feel a bit frustrated by what feels like an over-emphasis on regulation of health insurance carriers and not enough focus on ways to actually control the cost of health care (including over-utilization). If people are thinking of this process as health insurance reform rather than health care reform, it’s doomed to failure. […]

Filed Under: Health Care Reform, Health Insurance Reform, Individual/Family Health

Debating The Individual Mandate

January 7, 2011 By Louise Norris

[…] There is no simple solution to the issue of balancing guaranteed issue health insurance, an individual mandate, and personal liberties. It will be interesting to see what 2011 brings in terms of court battles over the constitutionality of the individual mandate, and whether any other options become viable alternatives.

Filed Under: Health Care Goodies, Health Insurance Reform, Individual/Family Health

Reviewing Health Insurance Premium Increases

January 4, 2011 By Louise Norris

[…] even with the new MLR guidelines and a significant review from the Division of Insurance to make sure this year’s rate increases are appropriate, our average rate increase is still nearly 13% – significantly higher than the 10% threshold that would trigger a review under the proposed federal regulation. […]

Filed Under: Health Care Goodies, Health Insurance Reform, Individual/Family Health

Double Digit Premium Increases Continue In Colorado

December 22, 2010 By Louise Norris

The Colorado Division of Insurance issued a press release on Monday, addressing the fact that health insurance premiums in Colorado are continuing to increase. They reiterated some numbers from earlier this fall, noting that less than 5% of the overall rate increases for next year can be attributed to changes implemented by federal health care reform. The vast majority of the rate hikes that insureds will see in 2011 are due to factors that have been driving health insurance premiums for years, long before federal reform became an issue. As long as the cost of health care continues to rise, the cost of health insurance will rise along with it. […]

Filed Under: Health Care Goodies, Health Insurance Reform, Individual/Family Health

Possible Alternatives To The Individual Mandate

December 20, 2010 By Louise Norris

[…] While many other aspects of reform are generally popular (like the provision to allow young adults to remain on their parents’ health insurance until age 26, and the requirement that all policies be guaranteed issue starting in 2014), the individual mandate has raised a lot of hackles, with people feeling that the government is infringing on their rights by telling them that they have to buy a product (and in most cases, that product will come from a private company). […]

Filed Under: Health Care Goodies, Health Insurance Reform

Even Well-Off Americans Face Problems With Health Care Costs

December 10, 2010 By Louise Norris

[…] People in the US pay a significantly larger chunk of their income for health care (either through health insurance premiums, or directly to providers) than people in other countries. […] Until we can get our health care costs in line with what other developed countries spend, health insurance premiums will continue to be a financial stretch for many families, and cost will continue to be a barrier standing in the way of health care access for a large number of Americans.

Filed Under: Health Care Goodies

Health Reform Not Having Much Impact On Colorado Premiums

November 8, 2010 By Louise Norris

Although the increases we’ve seen this year are similar to what we’ve seen over the last several years, there have been more questions since the PPACA was signed into law in March about whether federal health care reform is the driving factor for this year’s increases. To clarify, the Colorado Division of Insurance has released a statement noting that federal health reform is responsible for less than 5% of the total health insurance premium increase in Colorado this year. […]

Filed Under: Health Insurance Reform, HSA, Individual/Family Health

Workers’ Comp Rates In Colorado Among The Lowest In The Nation

November 3, 2010 By Louise Norris

[…] We work with individual health insurance, so my knowledge of workers’ comp issues are generally limited to what I read on Julie’s blog. But I find it interesting that workers’ comp is relatively inexpensive here, given that our health insurance premiums put us right in the middle of the national ranking in 2009, and group health insurance premiums here are currently rising faster than the national average.

Filed Under: Group Health, Health Care Goodies

How The Colorado Division Of Insurance Reviews Rate Filings

November 1, 2010 By Louise Norris

[…] The Division of Insurance has recently released an extensive FAQ page detailing how the review process works. The page includes data about health insurance premiums in Colorado, how they compare with the rest of the country, and specifics about how the Division of Insurance reviews rate increase proposals from carriers. […]

Filed Under: Health Care Goodies, Health Insurance Reform, Insurance Companies

High Risk Pool Eligibility

October 27, 2010 By Louise Norris

[…] There is another significant difference between Cover Colorado and GettingUsCovered, in terms of eligibility. Both plans allow eligibility for applicants who have one of several specific medical conditions, and both plans accept applicants who have either been declined by a private insurance company or offered coverage with a pre-existing condition exclusion. But while Cover Colorado also allows people to enroll if they have been offered a private policy with a rate that is higher than a comparable Cover Colorado plan, GettingUsCovered does not allow this option. […]

Filed Under: Health Insurance Reform, Individual/Family Health

More Americans Skipping Medical Care

September 2, 2010 By Louise Norris

[…] Copays and deductibles have risen for most families over the last few years, even those who don’t have policies that qualify as high deductible. And at the same time, economic stability has decreased for most families. This isn’t a good combination, and Joe’s right about the fact that when people skip necessary routine medical care, it will likely lead to increased medical costs (and declining health) in the future.

Filed Under: Group Health, HSA, Individual/Family Health

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

IRS 2011 HSA Contribution Funding Limits

June 20, 2010 By Jay Norris

The IRS has just issued Revenue Procedure 2010-22, which outlines the 2011 cost-of-living contribution and coverage adjustments for HSAs, as mandated under Code Section 223(g). The limits for 2011 are unchanged from 2010.
HDHP Minimum Deductible:
You must still have coverage under an HSA-qualified “high deductible health insurance plan” (HDHP) to open and contribute to an HSA. Federal law still requires that in 2011 the health insurance deductible be at least […]

Filed Under: HSA, Policy

Healthcare Continuing To Take A Larger Chunk Of Family Budgets

May 30, 2010 By Louise Norris

[…] Premiums for health insurance in the individual market are lower than those in the group market, but there’s no employer paying a portion of the premium. And the premiums alone amount to 10% of household income. When you add in the deductibles and other out of pocket expenses, it’s not surprising at all that nearly half of everyone buying insurance in the individual market was considered high-burden in 2006 (spending more than 10% of household income on health care). […]

Filed Under: Health Care Goodies, Health Insurance Reform, HSA, Individual/Family Health

Demand For HSAs Continuing To Grow

May 20, 2010 By Louise Norris

[…] A new report from AHIP notes that the number of Americans covered by HDHP/HSA policies reached 10 million in 2010, up from 8 million last year. In Colorado, 9.2% of the under-65, privately insured population has HSA qualified coverage, which is the third-highest percentage in the nation. A recent study by the Mountain States Employers Council reports that 27% of Colorado employers surveyed are offering consumer-driven health plans this year, up from 21% last year. […]

Filed Under: HSA, Individual/Family Health

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