Archive for the ‘Health Insurance’ Category

Most people have never heard of the Medical Loss Ratio (MLR), but that’s about to change.  It’s an insurance company measure of how much of your health insurance premium is spent on actual medical care vs. administration costs.  State insurance regulators already require insurance companies to report and adhere to a standard MLR.  However, it’s [...]

Increased rates for California’s Anthem Blue Cross health insurance were approved last week.  Blue Shields health insurance rate increases are expected to be approved shortly, as well.  The Los Angeles Times, reporting on the increase,  quotes shocked, unhappy people complaining about the increase and wondering why it’s happening.  Why is it happening? The simple answer [...]

All during the health care reform debates, the raison d’etre most often given for passing the act was the number of people without health insurance.  Proponents of the legislation laid the blame on high insurance costs, labeled insurance companies ‘greedy’, and promised affordable health care for everyone if the bill passed.  The legislation, the Patient [...]

In our previous blog about Electronic Medical Record Concerns, we noted that using electronic medical records results in better care and saved lives primarily because the medical information is so easily accessible.  However, this also makes these records accessible to more people and increases the likelihood of misuse.  Consequently,  people are concerned with loss of [...]

California has now joined 20 other states in providing temporary health insurance for people with pre-existing medical conditions.  However, only a small percentage of the estimated  400,000 eligible Californians will get help.  Moreover, it is questionable whether the funds available will cover the period between now and when the full federal program will take over [...]

Despite repeated promises that people could keep their health insurance plans, the administration released health care reform regulations on June 14th that says otherwise. The regulations, released by U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services, Labor, and Treasury, stipulated the changes that health insurance plans must adhere to by Sept. 23, 2010.  Insurance plans in [...]

An article in USA Today states that UnitedHealthCare, Humana, Kaiser Permanente, and WellPoint will let adult children stay on their parents’ health plans until age 26. The law takes effect on September 23 but some insurers are making rule changes now in order to prevent young adults from failing into a coverage gap. UnitedHealthcare and Humana [...]

The Journal of the American Medical Association released details about the relationship of persons with financial concerns or lack of heath insurance and the time lapse between the onset of a heart attack and accessing treatment.. The findings indicated that lack of health insurance and financial concerns about seeking care among those with health insurance [...]

J.D. Power and Associates just released a report on overall health plan member satisfaction. The report was based on a study that measured satisfaction among members who purchased their coverage through their employer or individually. The study evaluated seven key factors ranging from health coverage and benefits to customer service. According to the study which [...]

It is now easier than ever to search for and find the right insurance plan thanks to the advanced search navigation recently added to the website of California Health Plans. After entering basic personal data a large listing of health insurance plans will appear. The enhanced navigation allows one to narrow the search by selecting [...]