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Friday, June 25, 2010

Insurance Pools for High-Risk Patients To Start July 1

Submitted by Denise Reynolds RD on 2010-06-25
All about:

All about:


Affordable Health Insurance

For those with chronic medical conditions who are finding it difficult to get affordable insurance, relief is on the way. Beginning July 1st, the federal government will start paying for new insurance programs aimed at providing affordable coverage for uninsured people with pre-existing conditions.

Currently, insurance for someone with a pre-existing condition can cost as much as 200% of the standard rate that an otherwise healthy person would pay, if the coverage is available at all.

Under the new Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, $5 billion has been set aside for states to set up high-risk pools for people who have been uninsured for six months or longer. These pools are intended to provide a “bridge” for people most in need of medical coverage until the insurance exchanges begin operating in 2014.

The pools will have no restrictions based on pre-existing conditions. Coverage will begin immediately and there is no annual or lifetime limit. The law mandates that the premiums for coverage must be the same as the standard rate for a healthy adult in that state.
About 18 states in the US have opted to allow the federal government to run their programs, while 30 are going to run their own program instead. The states must file a proposal to the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) that will outline a list of pre-existing conditions that will help define who is eligible for each pool.

On July 1, the DHHS will introduce an online portal at www.hhs.gov that will include information on available health insurance in each state. Alternatively, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners has a directory of state insurance departments that can be contacted for further information on each state’s proposed plan, including the date they will begin taking applications.

While waiting for the programs to begin taking applications, Cheryl Fish-Parcham, director of health policy at Families USA, recommends that those who will likely qualify for the insurance program begin gathering official copies of medical records to prove pre-existing conditions.

Many experts worry that the $5 billion won’t be enough to last until 2014. The federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has estimated that the $5 billion will last for only two years. An analysis from the Congressional Budget Office estimates that the program may actually cost as much as three times the amount originally planned for.

“We just don’t know how many people will sign up for the new pools,” said Deborah J. Chollet, a senior fellow at Mathematica Policy Research, a public policy research company, who has studied existing state risk pools and the new plan. “Until we see what happens, there’s no way to know how long the money will last.”

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

The Observer, Billionaires Meeting

Here is something worth noting and perhaps the U.S. government might want to emulate.

Billionaires plan to put the world to rights following secret supper
Bill Gates and Warren Buffett are among those signing up to the greatest private donation in history

It was a dinner meeting that fed the appetites of the world's conspiracy theorists just as much as those sitting down to eat. Held in May 2009 at a secret location in New York, the meal was a meeting between some of the globe's richest billionaires, organised by Bill Gates and Warren Buffett.
A year later, we know what they were talking about. Not taking over the world, but working out ways to give away billions of dollars.


http://observer.guardian.co.uk/ click here for more information

Monday, June 14, 2010

Medical Costs Will Increase in 2011, Companies to Add Wellness Programs

According to a new report published by the PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (PWC) Health Research Institute, employers across the nations can expect medical costs to increase by 9% in 2011. As a result, about two-thirds of companies intend to expand or improve wellness programs in an effort to reduce preventable medical conditions related to those expanding costs.

Medical Costs Will Increase in 2011, Companies to Add Wellness Programs click here for more information:

*Experts say travel health insurance can be crucial

By LINDSEY TANNER, AP Medical Writer Lindsey Tanner, Ap Medical Writer- Sun May 9, 1:32 pm ET
CHICAGO - Plane tickets, check. Passport, check. Medical evacuation insurance? It's probably not something most people think about when packing for a vacation.

But Louise Robbins says she'd probably be bankrupt without it. The University of Wisconsin library educator and her husband, Robby, were in southwest China last summer when Robby slipped and fell backward on a hotel walkway made of the region's famed red marble.


Their regular health insurance covered many expenses, but not flying him home on a jet specially equipped for transporting critically ill patients and medical equipment. The cost exceeded $100,000.

"We would have been lost" if not for the medical evacuation insurance, Louise Robbins said.

With summer vacation season approaching, experts say there are several ways international travelers can protect themselves against medical emergencies - from registering in advance with the State Department, which can help locate doctors abroad and arrange emergency medical flights, to buying supplemental insurance or stand-alone medical evacuation policies.

Thousands of American travelers each year are flown home with medical assistance because of health emergencies. Car accidents and heart attacks are among the most common reasons.

......

But most regular health insurance plans don't cover costly evacuations. And finding that out after an emergency can be catastrophic.

A 21-year-old California woman died last year after her insurance company initially said its emergency coverage wouldn't pay to fly her home from China when she developed a blood disorder, according to her family's lawsuit. The suit, claiming wrongful death and breach of contract, says the company relented too late. Anthem Blue Cross, the insurer, disputes the claims.

Travelers should check their policies to see what kind of expenses are covered, said Susan Pisano of America's Health Insurance Plans, a trade association. Most will pay for emergency care outside the United States - but for leisure travelers that often doesn't include medical evacuation.

"Just make sure you know very clearly" what your policy says, she advised.

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends considering supplemental health insurance, including medical evacuation, if your existing policy is lacking.

According to the U.S. Travel Insurance Association, another trade group, Americans increasingly have been buying travel insurance; more than $1 billion was spent in 2008. Most covered things like unexpected trip cancellations - disruptions caused by the erupting Iceland volcano have prompted a flurry of recent business. But growth also has been strong in policies covering medical emergencies and evacuation, the group says.

Sunday, June 13, 2010

A thought on good health!




Positive attitudes—optimism, high self-esteem, an outgoing nature, joyousness, and the ability to cope with stress—may be the most important bases for continued good health.

helen hayes

Friday, June 11, 2010

June 2010 Health Care Reform Insights, "Rules on Coverage for Children Clarified"

Abstract

The Affordable Care Act (the abbreviated name for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care, the new health care reform law) contains a provision requiring group health plans that provide dependent coverage for children to continue to make such coverage available for an adult child until the child turns 26 years of age. This requirement ("the age-26 mandate") applies to all group health plans, including "grandfathered" plans (those in existence when the law was enacted).


Health Care Reform Insights Sibson Consulting for more information click here also download pdf

Youth Clubs Build Confidence, Reduce Problem Behaviors

Would you like your child to have more confidence and stay out of trouble? An Ohio State University study reveals that children who belong to youth clubs develop a better self concept and are less likely to engage in problem behaviors.

Youth Clubs Build Confidence, Reduce Problem Behaviors click here for more info

Accident Patients without Health Insurance Have Higher Mortality

If you are the victim of an auto accident or gunshot wound and you don’t have health insurance, you are more likely to die of your injuries than if you have private insurance. This statistic comes from University Buffalo researchers who also found that accident patients with Medicaid had a lower death rate than those who had private insurance.

Accident Patients without Health Insurance Have Higher Mortality click here for more information;

Wednesday, June 09, 2010

NASA Face in Space

Fly Your Face in Space

NASA wants to put a picture of you on one of the two remaining space shuttle missions and launch it into orbit. To launch your face into space and become a part of history, just follow these steps:

NASA Face in Space

Monday, June 07, 2010

Life

Life is like a game of cards. Reliability is the ace, industry the king, politeness the queen, thrift the jack: Common sense is playing to best advantage the cards you draw, and every day, as the game proceeds, you will find the ace, king, queen, jack in your hand and opportunity to use them.

edgar watson howe

Friday, June 04, 2010

The Internal Revenue Service recently released the inflation-adjusted minimums and maximums for Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) and High-Deductible Health Plans (HDHPs) for 2011.

A new Checkup includes a chart noting the numbers for 2011, which are the same as for 2010. AMS can help plan sponsors that are considering offering HSAs:  
Small Business (2-50 Employees)  HSA and Other plan quotes

• Create the "right" strategy for their participant populations

• Determine whether HSAs would be a "good fit" for their participants' needs

• Identify the impact that implementing an HSA option with an HDHP would have on existing benefits

• Decide between an HSA/HDHP plan and a design that includes Health Reimbursement Arrangements (HRAs)

• The chart below notes the numbers for 2011, which are all the same as for 2010.

2011 Minimums and Maximums for HSAs* and HDHPs (All the Same as for 2010)
2011 Minimums and Maximums for HSAs* and HDHPs (All the Same as for 2010)


Maximum Annual                                 Individual Coverage     Family Coverage



HSA Contribution**                             $3,050                         $6,150

Minimum HDHP Deductible                  $1,209                         $2,400

Maximum HDHP Deductible                 None                           None

Maximum HDHP

Out-of-Pocket Expense***                  $5,950                         $11,900

*

HSAs, established by the Medicare Modernization Act (MMA) as of January 1, 2004, allow individuals or employers to contribute to an HSA as long as the individual is covered under an HDHP. (For more information about HSAs, refer to various publications available on Sibson Consulting's Web site.)

**

As in 2009 and 2010, individuals age 55 or over can contribute an additional $1,000 to their HSAs in 2011 and subsequent years.

***

The out-of-pocket expense does not include premiums.

News Analysis - Health Insurers and the Administration Find They Need Each Other - NYTimes.com

AFTER squaring off as political foes for more than a year, the Obama administration and the health insurance industry have suddenly discovered that they need each other.
Both have huge stakes in the success of the new health care law. The political fortunes of President Obama and Congressional Democrats depend on their ability to translate its promise into reality for voters, by reining in health costs and making insurance available to everyone at an affordable price. News Analysis - Health Insurers and the Administration Find They Need Each Other - NY Times.com

Continue reading article:


NOTE: One thing is very clear, as citizens we need to continue to voice our opinions and help guide this monumental tasks; the real question is how do we as a nation cover everyone, have no limits on spending and make available the funds to pay for services? A very important and often overlooked fact is; in countries where there is Socialized Health Care they have limits on services based on available funds to pay for services, just ask the right people, service providers. There can not be a system without restrictions, or you will not be able to raise the money to pay for services. This maxim applies to everything; as one

This becomes a real push/pull between bringing care to an affordable level while being able to pay for all services.

Wednesday, June 02, 2010

Heath reform will increase costs, survey finds - The Hill's On The Money

Nearly all employers — 94 percent — tapped by the Towers Watson Health Care Reform Pulse Survey believe the new healthcare law will raise health costs for their organization.

Additionally, 61 percent believe reform will have a minimal effect on encouraging healthier lifestyles, and 73 percent said it will either have a negative impact or no impact on the quality of care.

"Employers are currently weighing the short-term challenges and long-term opportunities of the new law," said Mark Maselli, North American Health and Group Benefits Leaders for Towers Watson, in prepared remarks. "While many employers have not yet assessed the full impact that reform will have on their businesses, they do realize that the responsibilty to hold costs down will fall primarily on their shoulders."

click here for additional article: