Posted By admin ~ 17th January 2012
According to Bill Dunphy, a man who received a $1,100 bill after his colonoscopy, the answer to that question is no.
Bill Dunphy is a 61- year old who thought his colonoscopy would be free due to the health care reform law Obama administrated more than a year ago, but once he received the bill, he found out he was wrong. A routine preventive screening turned into a diagnostic procedure when two non-cancerous polyps were removed while Dunphy was sedated. There was no “okay” from Dunphy himself.
Dunphy however, says that his insurance company told him that it would all be covered 100 percent with no co-payment or deductible to be paid by him. Based on the healthcare reform law, all preventive screening is covered by insurance plans and so Dunphy scheduled the procedure.
He then receives a bill for $1,100 in the mail. Dunphy paid the amount that his insurance company said that he owed.
Dunphy said, “That’s bait and switch. If it isn’t fraud, it’s immoral.”
President Barack Obama signed into the law a healthcare reform that has helped many people to find preventive ways to keep themselves healthy. It has also helped many to find Medicare and Medicaid when it was such a huge fiscal before. The healthcare reform has made it free to receive cancer screenings and flu shots.
While this is wonderful, it should not be confused with surgical procedures. A screening is free, but when it turns into something surgical, it turns into a bill from your insurance company, which Dunphy find out the hard way.
Breast cancer screenings and flu shots are very confusing for people as well. They are not sure when they should be charged and when the insurance company is taking the loophole that only they know about. With breast cancer screenings, mammograms are free unless there has to be a second one due to the first one seeming abnormal. If you feel it is unfair, stand your ground about it. Flu shots are free too, but some doctor’s end up charging for them because parents usually talk about another ailment their child is dealing with. Stand your ground about this too.
Do not be taken for a ride when it comes insurance companies and health professionals. Learn about new healthcare laws and learn about the loopholes but your insurance company has already learned all about them and are ready to use them, so that they do not have to pay out the money.
Posted By admin ~ 16th January 2012
According to government officials, U.S. healthcare increased very little in 2010 from its record low during the recession.
Due to the recession, many employers had to let many of their employees go. It became a domino effect from there. Many people could no longer meet their regular bills, much less their medical bills. Millions were forced to go without medical care at all while some lost out on many benefits of their private health insurance coverage.
According to a report released by the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, spending has only increased to 3.9 percent, which brings the total amount in the U.S. healthcare system to $2.6 trillion. This equates out to around $8,402 per person. This increase was on 0.1 percentage point higher than the 3.8 percent (the lowest recorded in the half a century) that was recorded the year before.
Brookings Institution, William Galston spoke on the matter, “It’s absolutely clear what’s going on. People’s budgets have been hard-hit, and even if they have 20 percent co-pays from their insurance companies, that 20 percent may still be too much.”
The finding of this information should play a huge part in the political debate against Obama’s healthcare reform law in March, as the Supreme Court receives the arguments and could even impact Obama’s chances in his attempt at re-election in November.
It had not yet been confirmed on how consumers did in the healthcare department for 2011. However, there is hope that there was an increase since jobs are growing quickly.
While healthcare was looking very bleak for a while, it might be on the rise again in 2012. Financial researchers are hoping to see at least a small increase and of course, Obama’s healthcare reform could just mean a huge change in healthcare for us all.
Posted By admin ~ 14th January 2012
Within the next few months, it will be up to the Supreme Court rather or not Obama’s health care plan is set into motion or is ruled out.
This week as 3-judge panel will begin a discussion on whether or not the health care plan is constitutional or if it un-constitutional like so many Republicans believes, it is.
Two lawsuits will be looked at, one filed by Kenneth Cuccinelli, a Virginia Attorney General and the other by Liberty University who both believe that the health care plan should not become a law. The state of Virginia believes that it is unconstitutional for force Americans to buy health insurance. With Obama’s new health care law, it would become mandatory to buy health insurance.
The three judges selected to hear the arguments were picked from a group of 14 and it is suggested that lean more toward Obama’s stance.
Assistant Professor of Law at the University of Richmond, Kevin Walsh, who attended the hearings said, “This was certainly a favorable draw for the government.”
Since Obama first began the initial undergoing’s for his healthcare plan, there have been much controversy. Conservatives believe that it is an unaffordable expansion of the government; liberals believe that Obama did not go far enough to protect the poor and of course, republicans believe that it is unconstitutional.
While the healthcare plan does get some flack, it is meant to help so many people. The main point is to make it easier for Americans to receive Medicaid. It also makes it harder for insurance companies to refuse consumers who have pre-existing conditions.
According to the Congressional Budget Office, that healthcare plan will help to save money. However, conservatives disagree.
Thirty-one lawsuits have been filed against the healthcare plan and nine have been appealed. However, the two Virginia cases are the first to reach the argument process in a federal appeals court. While a ruling will appear in just a few weeks, the final ruling will not be made until the it goes to the Supreme Court.
Posted By admin ~ 13th January 2012
According to a new survey American’s have a higher Healthy Behaviors Index when they have health insurance than those who are uninsured between the ages 18 and 64. As the survey shows, age, gender, employment, ethnicity, income and education has no value on the results.
In America 80 percent of the population, younger than 65, have health insurance coverage. These results come from 200,000 interviews between the months of January and October of 2011 that were conducted via the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index.
Questionnaires were given to respondents of the survey and these are a few questions that were asked.
- Are you a smoker?
- How many days did your exercise for at least 30 minutes last week?
- Did you eat healthy all day yesterday?
- How many days did you consume five more servings of fruit and vegetables last week?
The answers to these questions give surveyors an idea as to which people are healthier. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, everyone should develop at least one healthy habit to increase their odds of living longer. For many people, that just means obtaining health insurance.
The survey found that more of those who were insured claimed that they ate five or more servings of fruit and vegetables at least four days a week, while those who are not insured did not. However, physical activity showed fairness all around.
Preventative care is the most important thing a person can do to maintain a healthy life style and with health insurance, a person can go to the doctor more to have test ran, to get more checkups and to receive medication when sick. Those without insurance cannot do the same thing without tacking on a huge medical bill that is impossible to pay.
Surveyors have started some research to find out why those with insurance are healthier than those without. The bottom line comes down to the fact that they can better afford healthcare based off insurance while those who are uninsured can probably afford the first doctors visit but cannot afford any post medical care such as blood tests or prescriptions.
Posted By admin ~ 12th January 2012
December 29th, 2011- eHealth, Inc. which is the parent company of eHealth Insurance issued two info graphics that defined the impression of smoking and body mass index (BMI) on individual health insurance premiums.
Here are the findings of the two info graphics:
Smokers
The average premium monthly was 14 percent higher than those who did not smoke. However, as it shows below females paid an even higher amount per month than males.
Female $195/month- Female Smokers $240/month
Male $166/month- Male Smokers $187/month
Overall $181/month- Overall Smokers $207/month
The overall amount focuses on a combined total of all premiums in both female/male smokers.
Body Mass Index (BMI)
A percentage from normal to overweight: 22.8%, 30.8% and 22.6%.
BMI Weight Status Female Male Overall
Below 18.5 Underweight- $172/month -$157/month -$169/month
18.5 – 24.9 Normal -$180/month -$143/month -$164/month
25.0 – 29.9 Overweight- $211/month -$172/month -$185/month
30.0 – Above Obese -$221/month -$187/month- $201/month
On average an overweight female will pay 22.6 percent more for health insurance than those who are in the normal BMI section. However, men who are in the obese section will pay 30.8 percent more than those who are in the normal section.
The information in the info graphics derives from a sample of more than 229,000 individual major medical policies that are purchased through eHealthinsurance with coverage that went into effect as of February 2011. The information is only based on those who are 20 years or older who gave their height and their weight. Height and weight was used to calculate their BMI for the study. The formula used to find their BMI was from the Centers for Disease Control (weight in pounds divided by height in inches squared, multiplied by a conversion factor of 703).
If you are a smoker or an overweight consumer who had health insurance or has applied for health insurance, you might want to check into different insurance companies to find out which insurance company will offer you the best premiums. The amount your premium will be depends on your weight, if you’re a smoker and of course, the rates of the insurance company itself.
Posted By admin ~ 11th January 2012
In 2012, certain things will change for health care and one of those things is a new fee on your health insurance bill.
This fee will be charged due to the new Obama Administration HealthCare overhaul. The plan is to use the money that comes from these fees to do research to find out which drugs, tests, treatments and medical procedures work the best.
Obama’s plan is to find out exactly what helps and what doesn’t. His goal is to find out if some of the new prescriptions we all see on TV really work better than some of the generic that cost a lot less.
However, many do not agree with this new fee and it has already come up in debate.
The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute will be carrying out the research and are very eager to start, although nothing has happened yet. There is already some funding going into the research but the $1 per person fee will start next year. However, the Treasure Department state that they believe the money will not be collected for another year, even though insurers will still owe the money anyways. The fee will rise to $2 a year after that and on up with inflation after that. Within the next six months, letters should start going out to insurance carriers from the IRS.
Kathryn Nix, a policy analyst for the conservative Heritage Foundation said, “The more concerning thing is not the institute itself, but how the findings will be used in other areas. Will they be used to make coverage determinations?”
Dr. Joe Selby, the institute’s director said, “We are not a policy-making body; our role is to make the evidence available.”
Insurance industry representatives say that they want to use the research to help health insurance within the work place. The research can help steer employees and their family members to hospitals and doctors that will treat them most effectively, instead of facing huge out-of-pocket expenses somewhere else that was less helpful.
Will this new research help or harm us all, only time will tell?
Posted By admin ~ 30th December 2011
Beginning on March 26th 2012, the Supreme Court arguments over Obama’s Healthcare Reform will be heard and will stretch over a 3-day period.
The Supreme Court will spend this time to consider Obama’s healthcare reform goals and decide the legality of it. Typically, a case is given an hour for argument but this particular case gets five and half hours. The extra time is given for importance of the dispute and how it can impact so many lives.
On March 27th, a two-hour argument will be heard over the minimum-coverage provision, which will start in 2014. This is the law that will make it mandatory for Americans to carry health insurance or to pay a penalty if they do not. Republicans are against this law as they do not see that the Obama Administration lacks the power to impose such a law while the Obama administration states that they do have the power under the constitutional authority to control interstate commerce, tariff taxes and authorize any “necessary and proper” laws.
On the morning of March 28th, the Supreme Court will hear a 90-minute argument over which portions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act will be able to survive if the minimum –coverage provision is not passed into law. The government says that if the mandate falls then so must the requirement that insurance companies take all persons wanting to collect health insurance and the ban on surcharges for pre-existing conditions. The two provisions are only feasible if the mandate law takes affects. The mandate will make it mandatory for younger, healthier people to have insurance and their premiums will balance out the costs of the two provisions.
Twenty-six Republican-controlled states argue that if the individual mandate falls, the entire Affordable Care Act must be thrown-out as well.
On the evening of March 28th, the Supreme Court will hear the arguments stating that expansion of the Medicaid Program is unconstitutional. The twenty-six states say that Congress cannot force them to spend more on Medicaid.
The fate of the healthcare reform lies in the hands of the Supreme Court.
Posted By admin ~ 29th December 2011
Throughout the last few years healthcare has been a huge struggle to keep around, especially for young adults. But a new analysis released by the Obama Administration suggests that young adults lacking medical coverage has dropped by 2.5 million.
This current drop is two times as large as the drop denoted previously, a year earlier. The current drop showed an influx of 1 million young adults gaining health coverage.
The major impact of this change comes from the health reform which now allows young adults to stay on their parent’s health insurance coverage until they are 26, as long as their parents allow them to be. Of course, parents want their children healthy and happy so many parents signed up for this as soon as they could.
While this is great news for those who had no health coverage before, the future of still maintaining that coverage is very uncertain as the healthcare reform will appear before the Supreme Court for a ruling of yeah or nay. Republican presidential candidates vow that the healthcare reform is unnecessary and are appealing it.
A report from the Health and Human Services Department states, “The increase in coverage among 19- to 25-year-olds can be directly attributed to the Affordable Care Act’s new dependent coverage provision. Initial gains from this policy have continued to grow as … students graduate from high school and college.”
While the main impact of the health reform does not take place until 2014, the revision for young adults took place for many workplace health plans January 1st 2011.
In 2010, there were more than 10.5 million people without health insurance. That number dropped with the induction of the health care reform to 8 million people.
The HHS report stated that, “From September 2010 to June 2011, coverage rose only among those adults affected by the policy.”
While the healthcare reform has been extremely helpful for millions of young adults, it is only a matter of time to see if it is still just as helpful or if the Supreme Court plans to rule it out for good.
Posted By admin ~ 28th December 2011
According to Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler, one million residents in the state of Washington do not have health insurance. This number has grown by 180,000 since 2008. However, the state numbers does not include residents who are insured but are struggling with high medical costs.
While the overall average is about 14.5 percent of the 6.7 million population that lives in Washington, the number increases by 6.5 percent in five counties: Adams, Franklin, Grant, Okanogan and Yakima. Six counties say a decrease with uninsured residents: Clallam, Cowlitz, Jefferson, Wahkiakum, Whatcom and Whitman.
For the counties that have more residents with insurance, Kreidler found that a large number were either retirees or college students who were eligible for Medicare or were included on their parent’s insurance policy due to the new health reform law that states any child can remain on their parents policy until they are 26 years old.
About half of those with who did not have insurance were employed and were between the ages of 18 and 34.
Debt from medical bills and such has risen to $1 billion a year.
Kreidler said, “There are so many other people out there who, technically, have health insurance, but it’s inadequate. They’re only one step away from bankruptcy.”
With much hope, the change of health care of 2014(known as the Affordable Health Care Act) will change a lot about health care and more than 800,000 of those who are uninsured will become eligible for Medicaid or subsidies. If all goes as planned, the uninsured rate will drop to 5 percent. But a lot could change between now and then since the U.S. Supreme Court has said that it will hear arguments, which challenges constitutionality of the historic health care overhaul.
Kreidler has concerns about the possible overturn.
“Given the political atmosphere we face in the nation’s capital, I don’t know how they work on a compromise that is going to effectively deal with the crisis we’re facing in health care right now. I’m very apprehensive.”
Posted By admin ~ 27th December 2011
Have you ever wondered which states are getting the best children’s health insurance and which states are getting a lot less? This means CHIPs and other government health programs.
Where you live in the United States could mean the difference in what type of health insurance your children will have. According to the Foundation for Health Coverage Education (FHCE), 1 in 6 children in the United States are uninsured. However, the website www.coverageforall.com has made a huge effort to try to educate those who do not have insurance.
The Children’s Health Insurance Program has ranked children’s health insurances to show which states have the more generous programs and which ones do not.
Founder and Executive Director of FHCE Phil Lebherz said, “The good news is that, by law, there is a CHIP program in every state. What we’ve found is most families are surprised at the income level they can make – as much as $78,000 annually in New Jersey – and still qualify their children. Unfortunately, because each state’s CHIP program has income limits that vary, it’s difficult for families to know that, in times of need, their children could qualify for this comprehensive coverage.”
To help with this issue, FHCE has created a five-question Health Coverage Eligibility Quiz on the www.coverageforall.org website, which only takes a few minutes to complete.
Below is the Annual Income State Ranking. Per state, a family could earn up to the amount of earnings defined and still be eligible for CHIPs or other government programs.
State Earnings
- New York Up to $89,400
- New Jersey Up to $78,225
- Hawaii Up to $77,148
- Vermont Up to $67,350
- Oregon Up to $67,248
- Washington Up to $67,050
- Tied with Alabama, Connecticut, D.C., Illinois, Iowa, Massachusetts, Missouri, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, West Virginia
- Minnesota Up to $61,488
- California Up to $55,884
- Tied with Colorado and Indiana
- Montana Up to $55,875
- Tied with Rhode Island and Tennessee
- Kansas Up to $53,148
- New Mexico Up to $52,548
- Georgia Up to $52,523
- Alaska Up to $48,900
- Nebraska Up to $44,712
- Arkansas Up to $44,700
- Tied with Delaware, Florida, Kentucky and Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming
- Arizona Up to $44,100
- Idaho Up to $41,352
- Oklahoma Up to $41,348
- Maine Up to $40,008
- North Dakota Up to $35,760
Hopefully, this will help to spread the word and help more people find affordable health insurance for their children.