An explanation of why health insurance is expensive in America and an overview of current health care reform and other possible fixes that may alleviate high prices.
August 3, 2010 By Leave a Comment
July 8, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Last week Healthcare.gov launched as a portal for U.S. citizens to explore the American health insurance market in an easily navigated and concise website. The website includes ways to find insurance coverage options, learn about preventive care, compare quality care, and ways to understand the new insurance laws.
First of all, finding insurance coverage options is a very easy process of selecting options that apply to your unique situation. Whether you are a small employer, an individual with an illness, unable to get health insurance, or a young adult under 26, the website directs to state specific resources for finding coverage.
For example, for a small IT consulting firm in New Jersey, I was informed that New Jersey is a guaranteed issue state for health insurance. An insurance carrier cannot turn a small business down for coverage if it meets the qualifications of small employer. I was then directed to Department of Banking And Insurance where I could read their online New Jersey small employer’s buyers guide to health insurance.
The preventive care section of the website partners with healthfinder.gov where you can enter your age and gender and recommended tests, immunizations, and other health tips tailored to your information is presented. This is a great feature to include in the website and I found it very helpful.
Next, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ hospital compare tool allows users to search hospitals by zip code and offers the ability to compare hospitals in your area by patient care surveys, care outcomes, medical imaging statistics, their Medicare coverage, and volume. This tool is an excellent addition to healthcare.gov and provides an easy way to compare hospitals.
Lastly, the website includes information about the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act in an easy to understand format. A timeline for establishment of reform changes is included to easily reference when certain provisions of the bill will go into effect.
June 21, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Changes are coming to United States health care this year because of recent changes made by the passing of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. This is a list of the five most important changes to be made that we think will impact technology companies and other small businesses.
- All new individual and group health plans must provide first dollar coverage for preventive care.
- Individuals with pre-existing medical conditions can obtain health insurance coverage from a temporary high risk pool setup by the government. This pool will expire when the insurance exchanges open in 2014.
- Beginning on September 23, 2010, parents can extend health insurance coverage to their children up to the age of 26.
- The first phase of the small business employer tax credit for health insurance starts.
- Individual and group plans must eliminate pre-existing condition exclusions for children.
May 7, 2010 By 3 Comments
Here at CG Benefits we noticed a very interesting trend. For some employers that may have one or two employees enrolled, the individual health insurance marketplace may offer less expensive health insurance coverage as an alternative.
This happened recently but, one carrier for example, Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield has lowered their rates to be very competitive with the employer based market. Their EPO and EPO Plus product is a viable method to insure yourself and your family, even if you are eligible for group coverage.
Now I’m not saying that every employer should run out and drop their group coverage and let the employees cover themselves in the individual marketplace. You will lose some of the benefits of the employer based group marker such as expanded support services such as billing, claims, and administration assistance provided to employers.
To check to see if you can benefit from new low rates for individual health insurance, get a quote now.
