Archive by Month - November, 2010

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Are Health Insurance Brokers An Endangered Species?

Tuesday, November 30th, 2010

Image: H. Michael Karshis under CC 3.0

In many states, regulators fear that health insurance brokers are falling by the wayside. The healthcare reform law passed this year requires that a certain percentage of premiums be spent on providing medical care, as opposed to being spent on administrative costs.

Some consider brokers as middlemen, standing in the way of affordable health insurance by creating yet another level of bureaucracy. However, they can help people navigate the confusing variety of plans available and shop around–although that purpose may become irrelevant once states get their own health insurance exchanges up and running.

In addition, many brokers may end up out of work if they cannot adapt to the changes in the market and regulatory environment.

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Florida Rep. Tries Anti-Health Insurance Mandate Amendment Again

Wednesday, November 24th, 2010

Image: turtlemom4bacon under CC 3.0

Last year, State Representative Scott Plakon (R-Florida) attempted to put a measure that would amend the state’s constitution to forbid mandating the purchase of health insurance on the ballot. That time, a judge rejected it due to what was considered overly political and misleading language.

Undaunted, Plakon is trying again. House Joint Resolution 1 would challenge the Obama administration’s healthcare reform legislation, which will eventually fine certain individuals and employers for failing to purchase affordable health insurance. It would give Florida more legal standing in its lawsuit against the federal government’s provision.

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Should Republicans Drop Their Employer-Sponsored Health Insurance?

Wednesday, November 24th, 2010

The GOP believes that the federal government should stay out of health care. Some liberal union groups are calling their bluff, and challenging Republican politicians to opt out of the Federal Employees’ Health Benefits Plan.

While the strategy is appealing, there are significant pitfalls. Most strikingly, the FEHBP is at its core an employer-sponsored health insurance plan–the employer just happens to be in the public sector. The GOP has never expressed opposition for that type of coverage.

A handful of representatives and senators may take up the challenge, however, to score political points. Some are independently wealthy and can easily afford individual coverage.

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Health Insurance Reform: Healthcare Mergers Coming Up?

Monday, November 22nd, 2010

Image: Frits Ahlefeldt-Laurvig under CC 3.0

The healthcare reform law may end up having an unfortunate side effect: although one of its stated goals is to help make affordable health insurance more widely available by spurring competition, several health care providers are considering merging.

According to many groups of doctors, hospitals, and clinics, the alliances and joint ventures are necessary in order to maintain their profit margins and take advantage of the potential savings of the law while avoiding the additional costs. However, consumers may suffer as a result.

The industry’s lobbying groups also want the Federal Trade Commission and the inspector general of the Department of Health and Human Services to give them exceptions from antitrust and Medicare fraud laws. This could potentially be dangerous. On the positive side, it can force medical service providers to coordinate care, leading to better health outcomes for patients.

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Which Country Has The Most Disputes with Health Insurance Companies?

Friday, November 19th, 2010

Most people agree that health care is an essential good, though they may disagree on how to go about providing it. Yet, a recent survey shows that millions the world over are forced to skip it because of the high cost. In order to maintain profitability, health insurers want to keep costs down. However, this often results in disputes between patients and health insurance companies over coverage.

According to the Commonwealth Fund’s findings, one nation sees more of these battles than others: the United States. Other industrialized nations, such as Germany and Switzerland, are believe to have less complex systems. Some have more private sector involvement than others, but the survey’s authors generally believe that they manage to provide more affordable health insurance (America has the highest per-capita spending on it) without as much hassles.

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Health Insurance Companies Spent $86 Million on Anti-Healthcare Reform Lobbying

Thursday, November 18th, 2010

Image: DonkeyHotey under CC 3.0

Some people may worry that this is what at least a portion of their health insurance premiums has been paying for: according to Bloomberg’s examination of major insurers’ tax records, they spent a total of $86 million on the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s campaign to defeat the Obama administration’s healthcare reform legislation in 2009.

These expenses–public rallies and events, media advertisements, and sponsored polling meant to sway opinion–would probably not qualify as falling under the medical loss ratio guidelines, which say that a certain percentage of customer premiums should be spent on providing care through their health insurance plans, as opposed to administrative and other expenses. Cigna and United HealthCare were among the biggest givers. In addition, the Chamber of Commerce is only one of the myriad interest groups opposing the law.

Was it a worthwhile investment? The bill passed early this year, so maybe not. However, they appear to have successfully swayed the views of a significant portion of the American public. The Republicans now taking over Congress will do their best to weaken the law, if not repeal it entirely.

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Posted in Reform & Regulation | 1 Comment »

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Congress’ Health Insurance Coverage Takes Time to Kick In

Wednesday, November 17th, 2010

Image: SourceWatch

Elected officials tend to enjoy generous health insurance benefits, fully paid for by the government. Members of Congress are no different. However, in one way they aren’t different from you and me: their employer-sponsored health coverage doesn’t kick in immediately.

Newly hired (or elected) representatives and senators must wait 28 days before they can take advantage of the federal health insurance plan. Rep.-elect Andy Harris of Maryland is currently protesting this waiting period, and expressed his problem during freshman orientation earlier this week. It may raise the eyebrows of some that Harris is a Republican who largely ran (and won) on his opposition to healthcare reform and the Obama administration’s increased involvement. He has vowed that he will seek to repeal the law as a member of the House of Representatives.

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Another State to Join Healthcare Reform Lawsuit?

Tuesday, November 16th, 2010

Image: davis.jaque under CC 3.0

Although the very first challenge to the Obama adminstration’s affordable health insurance reform law was rejected by the Supreme Court, that isn’t stopping states from continuing to oppose it. Over 20 attorney generals launched a lawsuit over the individual mandate provision earlier this year; it is predicted that arguments will be heard sometime in 2011.

Now, Kansas is mulling over the possibility of becoming yet another plaintiff in the large Florida-led case. The Republicans recently elected to state office, Governor-elect Sam Brownback and Attorney General-elect Derek Schmidt, have vowed to mount legal challenges. However, it will most likely take awhile for them to gear up for it.

Ironically, former Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius, who retired in order to become the Secretary of Health and Human Services, is in charge of promoting and implementing the healthcare reform legislation.

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59 Million Americans Without Health Insurance Last Year

Monday, November 15th, 2010

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently released a survey that found that 59.1 million people in the United States were uninsured for at least some part of 2010. In contrast, just 56.8 million were uninsured in 2008.

One in three middle-income adults (considered to have annual incomes between $43,000 and $65,000) under the age of 65 lacked a health insurance plan some time during the past twelve months, according to the CDC survey.

Many blame the recession for this turn of events, since millions have become unemployed and therefore lost their employer-sponsored health benefits.

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