Under the current health insurance system and until the new law takes effect in 2014, it is the most difficult to get insurance when you try to purchase it as an individual or family (as opposed to getting the coverage through your employer).   In the “individual market” people are routinely denied coverage for certain conditions or denied coverage altogether for a long list of preexisting conditions.

Why Do Companies Deny Health Insurance Coverage?

While this practice makes insurance companies appear heartless, the practice has historically existed to help keep insurance rates lower for other customers and to keep the insurance company solvent.  If a person with any physical aliment could buy insurance at any time, many might wait until they are very sick to buy insurance, generating large medical bills.  The way insurance works today, the customers’ premiums are pooled together to collectively cover everyone’s health care expenses.  This helps the insurance company spread the risk and ensure the solvency of the pool.

(more…)

Congress is in recess, and – as was expected – the bill that would have extended COBRA was allowed to lapse.  As of June 1st, the federal government will no longer subsidize COBRA premiums.  What does this mean to you, as a health insurance consumer? Read on to learn more.

What is COBRA Coverage?

COBRA is a form of protection for individuals who become unemployed and have their health insurance benefits taken away as a result. It was first introduced in 1986, under the Consolidated Omnibus Reconciliation Act passed during the Reagan administration. Since then, millions of unemployed workers have had the opportunity to retain the coverage that was provided to them by their former employer.

In 2008, when the economy took a nosedive, millions of people became unemployed (the best estimates show that a record 10 million are collecting unemployment insurance and half of the 15.3 milion jobless Americans have been unemployed six months or longer). The newly elected Obama administration stepped up to the plate and added government subsidies to help cover the cost of COBRA through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

Under the ARRA, COBRA was provided at a 65% discount to the unemployed. What this meant was that a typical COBRA plan (which would have cost a family in California $1,107 a month and 82% of their unemployment check) would have cost only 35% of the actual cost of the plan – or about $390 for a family. The subsidy finally made COBRA affordable for most American families.

What’s Changed about COBRA Subsidy?

As of June 1, 2010, anyone who becomes unemployed will no longer receive subsidized COBRA coverage. This means that you will need to pay the full premium for coverage, which could total more than 3/4th of your unemployment check! Unfortunately, Congress is in a fiscally conservative mood, so you won’t be able to take advantage of any more federal subsidies.

However, the good news is that there are essentially dozens of alternative health insurance options within your reach. The thing most consumers may not realize is that COBRA is priced as group coverage – and it often includes coverage that you may not need as a family. You can take advantage of drastically lower rates simply by opting for a private health insurance alternative. All you have to do is click here to request a free quote!

The Geography of the Congressional Health Care Bill

With a narrow 219 to 212 margin of victory, the landmark health care reform bill (known as the “Health Care and Education Affordability Reconciliation Act”) passed Sunday night. President Obama – along with Vice President Joe Biden – watched the final tally of votes from the White House. Responding, the President said: “We pushed back on the undue influence of special interests. We didn’t give in to mistrust or to cynicism or to fear. Instead, we proved that we are still a people capable of doing big things.”

HR4872 was a revised form of the health care bill passed by Congress on Christmas Eve. It was meant to reconcile some of the reservations that the Senate had with many of the original bill’s provisions. Unfortunately, between Christmas Eve and the vote on Sunday, a spectre of controversy has arisen over the bill, and ultimately, 34 Democrats stood with Republicans to oppose the bill. Representative John Boehner, Republican from Ohio, pledged to vehemently fight the bill: “The American people are angry. This body moves forward against their will. Shame on us,” said Boehner.  Chances are high, however, that the bill will pass the Senate with a simple majority of 51 votes.

(more…)

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.

“It was the best of times; it was the worst of times.” This is the opening line to the famous novel “A Tale of Two Cities” by Charles Dickens, but to many Americans bidding adieu to 2008, it really just feels like the worst of times with no sunshine in sight.

About 1 million people lost their jobs in 2008, which means that over the course of a mere twelve months, 33% of the entire nation’s population found themselves jobless. That is pretty darn terrifying itself, not to mention the plethora of problems that come along with having no job. Not the least of these problems is losing your health insurance, if you were receiving it through your employer. As if worrying about making ends meet wasn’t problem enough, so many of us are worrying about keeping ourselves and our families healthy. Luckily, there are ways to cope with this situation, so don’t toss your health hopes out the window just yet.

(more…)

The language barrier for recent immigrants to the United States is taking a toll on how they receive access to and understand their health care options, according to a recent report by Kaiser. This further exemplifies the holes in the United States’ health care system, and raises huge concerns over those who are eligible and paying for health care yet are not receiving what they deserve. What is happening here and how can it be fixed?

Health care and immigration

I can only imagine how frustrating it is to be a newcomer to this country and want to get health care coverage, but not be able to find a single person to help you understand your options. For many who call the help lines for a plan like Medicaid, you may find that you can get instructions in Spanish, but what about the other hundreds of languages that immigrants speak? And what about other options for helping recent immigrants understand their health care options?

(more…)