A look at the per capita health costs - U.S. compared to other OECD nations in 2000. Of course, since the year 2000 these costs have ballooned even further.

A poignant article in the respected journal, Health Affairs, put it best when it said that “a cycle of unsustainable spending growth followed by fervent cost containment initiatives has been a regular feature of the health care landscape for the past half-century.” As a result, the journal looked at health care spending per capita for thirty countries in the so-called “industrialized” Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) list of countries, all while record numbers of Americans choose to opt out of individual health insurance plans.

In 2002, U.S. citizens spent more than $5,260 per capita for their health care. This represented a 53% premium over any other country in the OECD list. That trend continues to this day, and it is a major catalytic factor in the health care reform movement championed by the Obama administration.

Health Affairs concludes that the two main factors in the high U.S. health care costs are:

• Defensive medicine (which leads to higher diagnostic rates and a hyper-sensitive population of doctors due to the fear of medical malpractice claims), and
• The high rates of emergency care resources vs other industrialized nations. Of course, the article in the journal tends not to oversimplify and cites numerous other potential reasons.

Whatever the case, health care spending has ballooned far beyond that of any other country (as the graph above illustrates). Where the proposed reform will take us from here is anybody’s best guess.

Have you ever pondered what health insurance and healthcare was like throughout your state? Or maybe you and your family are planning a move to another part of the country and want to know what you can expect in terms of health coverage in a state. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation is making sleuthing like this a whole lot easier for inquiring minds who want to know. They have created a stellar resource website at statecoverage.org, where you can find statistics for all 50 states. Want to compare the coverage provided by employers in Wisconsin versus the coverage provided by employers around the country? Are you curious about the Medicaid coverage in Oregon?

What Makes this Health Insurance Tool Useful

I’m so impressed with this site’s usability and easy of navigation. I’ve always wanted to live in Oregon, as I have a on of family living there and let’s face it: it’s absolutely beautiful there. But let’s say I wanted to truly make a move there and was worried about what type of health coverage would be available me. Once I open the “State Profiles” page, I’m presented with a map of the United States, broken out into states. I clicked on Oregon, and up popped information that can be useful to everyone, despite how you like your information presented. On the Oregon page, I discovered both graphical representation of data (read: bar graphs) and some cold hard numbers.

If you’re looking at a particular state’s data and wondering just where in the heck these statistics came from, the site does a terrific job of citing their sources. Just click on the “Resources” tab for any given state, and you will see listed any source that data was gathered from, including a link to the exact report. For those of you cynics who don’t like to take things at face value, I think this is valuable addition.

Muddling Through the Insurance Jargon

If you’re at the beginning of your insurance journey, you may be looking at terms like Medicaid or SCHIP and scratching your head. Luckily, State Coverage Initiatives has done all of the information gathering for you. Instead of only providing you with facts and figures with no explanation of terms (leaving you opening countless different windows trying to track down what these terms mean), you can click on “Coverage Strategies” at the top of the page and be given in depth definitions of many of the types of coverage you’ll see talked about on other parts of the site. Also impressive is the readability of the definitions-no confusing, misleading trickery here-they lay everything out for you so that it is easy to understand and digest.

Insurance Resources Galore

One fantastic thing about the internet is that there is a wealth of information to be found on just about any subject. It can be difficult to find a reliable and informative site sometimes, and State Coverage Initiatives seems to be one of the good guys. Once you have gotten the specific state information you are looking for, you may be ready to look into purchasing some type of insurance for yourself. There are so many different plans out there, and they vary drastically by carrier and area, so please visit our health insurance by state section arm yourself with even more information to help you with any insurance decisions you’re facing.

If you don’t think you’re low-income and aren’t sure if you’d qualify for the services we talked about in our pregnancy health insurance article (it’s always a good idea to check just in case), there may be other options you can look into as a pregnant, mother-to-be. They do come at a cost, but at a much more reduced cost than other traditional pregnancy health care plans.

Maternity Advantage is a discounted health care program that can help pregnant woman save upwards of 60% on things like prenatal doctor visits, sonograms, lab work, and the hospital stay when you give birth. Although Maternity Advantage itself isn’t health insurance, it works with provider maternity networks to find the best plan that will work for you. All the benefits available through Maternity Advantage are still offered to you even after you find out that you are pregnant.

AmeriPlan is another discount plan that is currently available in all U.S. states except Alaska. AmeriPlan can help save up to 50% on health care services, and is a great choice for expecting mothers. Benefits include physician, hospital, and ancillary services (i.e., lab work, tests, x-rays). Since AmeriPlan, like Maternity Advantage, is not insurance, all pre-existing conditions are covered, there are no deductibles, no waiting periods, no claim forms, and no annual limits. This all sounds too good to be true, so make sure you look into every little detail of these plans before making your choices.

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Editor’s Preface: The new American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) is a revolutionary step in addressing our most vital economic challenges. A significant portion of the money doled out by the ARRA ($59 billion) will go towards immediately addressing the health crisis. This is the second part in a two-part series on subsidies for COBRA in the ARRA. We have also extensively covered this subject in “COBRA Health Coverage in a Bad Economy” and “Stimulus Package and COBRA Health Coverage.” You can find Part 1 of this series at: “COBRA Health Subsidies and the Economic Recovery Act“

COBRA Subsidies and Your Health Insurance

Knowing who is and isn’t qualified for this 65% COBRA subsidy coverage can get a little sticky. The ARRA only provides the subsidy to AEI, or “assistance eligible individuals.” Who qualifies as one of these special AEI’s? Anyone who is eligible for COBRA coverage on or before September 1, 2008 or on or after December 31, 2009. This is an interesting way of looking at things, because wouldn’t it just be simpler to say anyone on or after September 1, since December 31 falls after that date? Moving on. An AEI is also someone who chooses to use COBRA during the original COBRA period, or during a special period of coverage. Just what is a special period of coverage? This special election period begins on the date of enactment of the ARRA and ends 60 days after the person’s health plan administrator provides the required notice to the individual. You also have to be covered by COBRA via an involuntary termination (covered in my last post) by your former employer’s health insurance coverage plan.

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Editor’s Preface: The new American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) is a revolutionary step in addressing our most vital economic challenges. A significant portion of the money doled out by the ARRA ($59 billion) will go towards immediately addressing the health crisis. This two-part series by Tara Barnes will delve into the benefits of the stimulus package’s COBRA subsidy. We have also extensively covered this subject in “COBRA Health Coverage in a Bad Economy” and “Stimulus Package and COBRA Health Coverage.”

It cannot be denied-COBRA is a huge topic in the United States right now. People are up in arms about COBRA coverage (as can be seen from response here on previous blog postings) and some significant changes and new legislation put into place by the Obama administration may change the face of COBRA.

Spending in the ARRA for Health Insurance and Care Compared with Other Sectors

The ARRA (the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act) was signed on February 17, 2009 and directly affects the COBRA continuation coverage rules. Because so many Americans are upset with the way COBRA coverage works, will these changes benefit or hurt those who need to rely on COBRA to keep their health insurance? Are these new changes really going to make a difference in the things that citizens are frustrating about, like the monthly cost of COBRA? Read on to find out about the new act passed and how it will affect COBRA for those people living in the real world.
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Sometimes you just need to get seen by a doctor, stat. Maybe you aren’t having an emergency like having a baby or cradling your severed limb in your hands, but things like a sprained ankle or a rapidly rising temperature require some fairly prompt attention. According to Health Net’s website, urgent care services are “medically necessary services which are required for an illness or injury that would not result in further disability or death if not treated immediately, but require professional attention and have the potential to develop such a threat if treatment is delayed longer than 24 hours.” What is the difference between emergency and urgent care? How can you get seen quickly without spending a ton of your hard earned dollars? How can you make sure that your urgent care visit will be covered by your health insurance? Read on to learn the best way to approach urgent care.

Assess Your Symptoms

If you are feeling like you are having a heart attack, get thee to an emergency room, stat. Urgent care centers are not for people who feel like their lives are in danger. But, if you’re uncomfortable from a minor sports injury or your flu feels like it’s just getting worse, an urgent center will be the way to go. Before you hop into a car to head for the emergency room or an urgent care center, ask yourself the following questions: Could I tolerate the way I’m feeling for another 48 hours? Do I want to spend less than $600 on a visit? Do I have the time to wait to be seen? If you answered “yes” to all of these questions, point your car in the direction of the nearest urgent care center.

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