Last June, when the American Medical Association announced its finding that nearly one out of every five health insurance claims had been processed incorrectly, it had probably hoped it was giving the insurance biz a much needed kick in the pants. But one year and another AMA report card later, that statistic remains virtually unchanged. [More]
health insurance
Anthem Blue Cross Holds Off On Plan To Charge $15 To Pay Bill By Credit Card
By 6.14.11
Last week, we told you how Anthem Blue Cross of California had decided it no longer wants to take credit card payments and will soon start charging $15 “convenience” fees for those still wishing to pay by plastic. But now that the California Attorney General is looking into the matter, Anthem has put that plan on hold. [More]
Anthem Blue Cross To Start Charging $15/Month To Pay Bill By Credit Card
By 6.8.11
Anthem Blue Cross, along with its parent company, perennial Worst Company In America contender WellPoint, is known for many things — trying to jack up rates on policyholders by upward of 30%, practicing rescission on breast cancer patients, and leaking customers’ credit card information online. Basically everything except for providing quality health insurance. You can soon add another item to Anthem’s long list of qualifications when it stops allowing credit card payments, except for those willing to pay a $15 convenience fee. [More]
Blue Shield Of California To Give $167 Million Back To Individual Policyholders
By 6.7.11
Amid criticism for increased rates and cushy executive salaries, the CEO of Blue Shield of California has announced that the company will cap its net income at 2%, returning any extra funds — $180 million this year alone — back to certain policyholders and doctors. [More]
United Healthcare Decides You Only Needed Second Of Two Procedures
By 5.20.11
The good news is that after having two procedures on her spine last fall, Jackie is able to walk again. The bad news is that even though the two procedures were identitcal, United is only paying for the first one and not the second, and won’t actually explain why. She has appealed the decision, but things don’t look promising. [More]
New HHS Rule Hopes To Rein In Some Runaway Health Insurance Premiums
By 5.19.11
According to a recent study, the cost of health insurance coverage for a family of four has soared 131% since 1999. And the insurance companies continue to seek double-digit rate hikes even while profiting from peoples’ reluctance to seek medical care. Thus, as part of the Affordable Care Act, the Dept. of Health & Human Services has just issued a new to help define what constitutes an unreasonable health insurance rate increase. [More]
Health Insurers Still Asking For Higher Rates Even As People Put Off Going To Doctor
By 5.16.11
Between 2008 and 2010, the number of insured employees with annual deductibles of at least $2,000 doubled, now representing about 10% of all covered workers. As a result, it looks like more people are postponing or not seeking medical care. But that hasn’t stopped the health insurance companies from continuing to ask for rate hikes. [More]
Report: Families Paying More For Health Care While Employer Contributions Fall
By 5.12.11
A new study looking at the cost of health care for American families has found that people are not only paying more for their medical needs but that employers are contributing less money to employees’ coverage plans. [More]
Adults Flocking To Parents' Health Plans
By 5.9.11
A health care reform law that allows adults to remain on their parents’ health plans until age 26 has sparked masses of those 25 and under to take advantage. [More]
EECB Gets Kaiser Permanente's Attention, Reader's $900 Refund
By 4.6.11
Reader Laura had Kaiser Permanente health insurance through her employer. When she lost her job, she paid Kaiser directly for COBRA coverage. She stuck with the company for her employer-subsidized health insurance when she started a new job earlier this year, and was under the impression that the COBRA plan would end when her new coverage began. It didn’t.
When she couldn’t convince anyone in first-line customer service that she really, really didn’t mean to have two separate insurance plans simultaneously, she did some research and launched an executive e-mail carpet bomb at the company, bringing the bureaucratic stupidity to the attention of someone with actual power.
If At First Your Health Insurer Denies Your Claim, Try Try Again
By 3.21.11
Among the items on recent list of things your health insurer won’t tell you was the fact that you shouldn’t give up if your insurance claim is initially denied. Now a new report from the Government Accountability Office says that upward of 50% of appealed claims ultimately get paid. [More]
Things Your Health Insurer Isn't Telling You
By 3.7.11
Health insurance is often complicated, with a seemingly endless variety of plans to choose from, all with their own particular loopholes and problems. Over at SmartMoney.com, they have put together a round-up of things your insurance company may not be telling you. [More]
Illinois Blue Cross To Pay $25 Million After Denying Coverage To Sick Kids In Need Of Nursing Care
By 2.24.11
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois, the largest health insurer in the Land of Lincoln, has agreed to pay $25 million to settle allegations that it denied coverage to sick kids who needed nursing care. [More]
Self-Employed Taxpayers Get Bigger Deduction For Medical Expenses
By 2.23.11
As a self-employed certified tax cat, I make sure to take advantage of every opportunity possible to reduce my taxable income. The health insurance premiums I pay for me and my litter have always worked to bring that number down, but they never did anything to reduce the amount I had to pay in Medicare and Social Security taxes. Until now. [More]
New Blue Cross Blue Shield Plan Steers Patients To Cheaper Hospitals
By 2.10.11
If you live in Massachusetts and have Blue Cross Blue Shield health coverage, you may end up paying more if you want to go to certain hospitals. [More]
Federal Judge Strikes Down Health Care Reform Bill
By 2.1.11
Health care reform legislation lost a significant court battle Monday when a U.S. District Court judge in Florida ruled that the entire Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is void after finding that the portion of the law that requires people to buy health insurance is unconstitutional. [More]
Cancer Patient Loses Health Insurance Over $.02 Error
By 1.27.11
The wife of a Vietnam War vet with multiple myeloma accidentally typed a “7” instead a “9” when she made a payment to Ceridian, the company that administers his COBRA benefits, meaning the $328.69 payment was short by two cents. And as the couple learned, being .006% in arrears is enough to have one’s health coverage canceled. [More]
Kaiser Permanente Makes Cancelling Hard, Then Sends Me To Collections
By 1.24.11
Tim has been stuck in a 7-month limbo with his ex-health insurer Kaiser Permanente that he is trying to break it off with. First he was told to write in a fax that said “I [name here] no longer want health care coverage by KP.” Then it turned out they gave him the wrong fax number, which he found out after he got a bill for missing payment. He called back and got the right fax number, was promised a refund and prorated payment, and sent in all his info. Instead, he got back a letter from the collections department. [More]
