You may be one of the millions of Americans who, as part of the Affordable Care Act, should be receiving a rebate from your health insurance provider, usually distributed to your employer. But what if you’re also one of the millions of Americans whose employer is no longer in business? [More]
My Insurance Rebate Disappears Into Black Hole. Anthem Tells Me To Complain To Someone Who Cares
By August 9, 2012
Some Employers Plan On Dropping Health Benefits To Deal With Rising Medical Costs
By July 24, 2012
In somewhat troubling news for the more than 160 million Americans who get their healthcare through employer-sponsored programs, almost 10% of those employers say they’ll likely drop health coverage for their workers in the next three years, blaming rising medical costs. [More]
12.8 Million Americans To Get Health Insurance Rebates
By June 21, 2012
Good news for 12.8 million Americans — insurers will start doling out $1.1 billion in rebates to reimburse consumers for spending too much of premiums on overhead, instead of mostly on medical care. [More]
Anthem BCBS Decides Boy Who Can’t Sit Up On His Own Doesn’t Need A Wheelchair
By June 13, 2012
There’s a 2-year-old in New Jersey whose cerebral palsy makes it impossible for him to walk or even sit up without support. But according to the computers at Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, he should give a cane a try before Anthem forks over the cash for a wheelchair. [More]
Aetna Says Doctor Made Billing Error, But The Patient Is The One Who Owes $6K For MRI
By June 1, 2012
The wonderful world of medical billing, where not up is down, left is right, and the patient is somehow the one left with a hefty bill if their surgeon screws up on the paperwork. [More]
Sometimes It's Cheaper To Pay Cash Than Use Your Insurance
By May 29, 2012
We all know that health insurance is supposed to lower our hospital and doctor bills to a level below the list price for procedures and services, but that doesn’t mean you’re getting the lowest possible price. In fact, you can sometimes end up getting the best deal on health care if you can afford to pay cash. [More]
Ohio Man Selling $1000/Cup Kool-Aid To Raise Money For Doctor Bills
By May 22, 2012
When life hands you three bouts of pancreatitis, gall stones, a cholecystectomy, and possibly kidney stones, you make incredibly expensive lemonade in the hopes that some generous folks will pay — and that the local news will pick up your story. [More]
Between 36-122 Million Americans Have Pre-Existing Conditions That Would Restrict Health Insurance Coverage
By April 26, 2012
Health insurance providers have a long history of telling individual policyholders — and people shopping for individual policies — that their care isn’t covered or their policy is voided because of a pre-existing condition. Starting in 2014, that is all supposed to stop when a condition of the Affordable Care Act kicks in, making it illegal for health insurers in the individual market to deny coverage, increase premiums, or restrict benefits because of a pre-existing condition. Question is: Just how many people are we talking about? [More]
Doctors Skip The Whole Insurance Thing By Charging Monthly Retainers
By April 23, 2012
What if, instead of paying hundreds — or even thousands — of dollars each month for health insurance that you may not even be taking advantage of, you paid a retainer of somewhere between $39 to $79 a month to your primary care physician? Some doctors say this kind of service can work out to the benefit of both caregiver and patient. [More]
26% Of Working-Age Americans Went Without Health Insurance In 2011
By April 19, 2012
Having health insurance is not only too often tied to having a full-time job, it also usually requires that you be in that job for weeks or months before coverage kicks in. So with so many Americans either without staff jobs or starting work for a new employer, it’s perhaps not surprising that a new study claims that 26% of working-age people in the U.S. went without coverage at some point in 2011. [More]
Jury Awards $34 Million To Alzheimer's Patient After Insurance Company Cuts Off Care
By April 10, 2012
A jury in Montana awarded a monster of a verdict to a 90-year-old woman with Alzheimer’s Disease after her insurance company cancelled her long-term care policy because it decided she didn’t actually need the level of medical care she was receiving. [More]
Aetna Hikes Health Insurance Rates For California Small Businesses
By April 6, 2012
Health insurer Aetna has raised its rates for California small business clients considerably, making for an average increase of 8 percent, with some businesses seeing increases of as much as 21 percent. The California State Insurance Commissioner called the hikes “excessive.” [More]
House Votes To Cap Malpractice Damages
By March 22, 2012
While the U.S. Supreme Court is set to hear arguments next week over the constitutionality of the nearly two-year-old health-care reform package, members of Congress have been busy trying to chip away at the legislation. [More]
White House Tweaks Rule Requiring Employers To Cover Birth Control
By February 10, 2012
Late last month, the Obama administration angered some people when it announced that all employers — regardless of their stance on birth control — would need to provide insurance that covers female preventative care. Today, the President said his people had come up with a compromise that he believes will provide birth control while allowing businesses to not be directly responsible for providing it. [More]
Here Is What The New Health Insurance Labels Will Look Like
By February 9, 2012
Back in August, we told you about how the Dept. of Health & Human Services was finalizing a template for new health insurance labels that would attempt to make it clear what a potential customer was buying and what sort of coverage they would receive. [More]
New Legislation Would Pad Health Insurance Coffers While Screwing Over Consumers
By February 3, 2012
As part of the Affordable Care Act, health insurers must spend at least 80% of the money they earn from premiums on actually providing health care, with the remaining cash used to cover all administrative, advertising and payroll costs. Those insurers with plans that don’t follow this ratio are soon supposed to start giving the extra money back in refunds and discounts. But new legislation introduced in the Senate this week could jeopardize this, while giving insurance companies even more money to stick in their dog pillows. [More]
Anthem Blue Cross/Blue Shield Thinks Smoking And Depression Are Basically The Same Thing
By February 1, 2012
Wellbutrin is an atypical antidepressant used to treat patients with depression, but it’s also effective when used short-term to help people quit smoking. As far as Anthem Blue Cross/Blue Shield is concerned, then, if you’re using Wellbutrin, you’re a smoker. For people whose health insurance comes from their employers, this isn’t as much of a problem. But the individual health insurance market is a cruel, unforgiving place where smokers pay higher premiums. And so reader Elizabeth’s husband, who quit smoking more than four years ago, is slapped with the smoker’s rate because he has a prescription for Wellbutrin, which they consider an “atypical tobacco product.” [More]
Consumers Union To Government Agency: Don't Delay Consumer-Friendly Wisconsin Health Insurance Provision
By January 20, 2012
Consumers Union, the policy and advocacy arm of our benevolent benefactors at Consumer Reports, is urging the Department of Health and Human Services not to delay a consumer-friendly health insurance provision in Wisconsin. The delay could result in a loss of over $13 million rebates or lower insurance premiums to residents. [More]
