| Blue Cross Of California Health Insurance - Clear Answers To Tough ...
Northridge, California (FV Newswire) - Blue Cross of California health insurance provides clear answers to tough questions. California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger recently proposed a plan to provide affordable health insurance to everyone in the state under the age of 18. The ultimate goal, according to Chuck Mondrus of American Health Insurance / Blue Cross California, is for everyone in California to have affordable health insurance.
"Blue Cross California," Mondrus adds, "shares the Governor's concern with California's cost and coverage challenges, and we view many components of the Governor's proposal as very positive. Theoretically, if everyone is insured, the cost of insurance would be less on a per-person basis."
He adds that, until a finished proposal exists, it's impossible to know the legislation's real impact.
Rest home health-plan sales criticized
State investigators are looking into complaints that insurance agents switched memory-impaired residents of a Cary rest home from traditional Medicare to private Medicare plans, resulting in higher costs and fewer benefits for the residents. Such tactics might be on the rise across North Carolina and the nation. Insurance regulators and advocates for older people say they have seen increasing evidence of inappropriately aggressive sales tactics for "Medicare Advantage" programs, which are private insurance policies that are paid by Medicare. People who switch to private Medicare policies often have to change doctors and hospitals and can face higher payments - circumstances that might not be fully explained by unscrupulous brokers, according to a January report by the Medicare Rights Center and California Health Advocates.
Coalition plans rally in support of universal health care bill
TRACY A coalition of local organizations in support of universal health care will be staging a rally in front of the post office today. The demonstration is intended to raise awareness for Senate Bill 840, the California Health Insurance Reliability Act, which would provide universal health coverage for every resident of the state, regardless of their ability to pay. Today's event is being organized by the San Joaquin Coalition for Universal Health Care, as part of the statewide "365 Day One Care Now Campaign." The goal is that each day, one community in California will host an educational/informational activity to raise awareness and offer solutions for the skyrocketing costs of health care. According to One Care Now, the bill would "create one plan and one public trust fund which would pay all health care bills and collect all the monies already being spent on health care and insurance plans." If enacted, the bill would "replace all health premiums, taxes, deductibles and co-payments now paid by employers, employees and individuals with one affordable premium." The organization states that more than 5 million Californians have no insurance at any time during the year, with an additional 2 million lacking insurance for part of the year.
State health care reform worth another try
When the state legislature actually did its job in September and passed a real solution to the health care crisis (the California Health Insurance Reliability Act), The Record claimed this could be the beginning of an inefficient bureaucracy similar to the Department of Motor Vehicles. The current system we endure is inefficient - with 6,000 insurance plans and 69 government agencies attempting to deliver care to 37 million Californians. Gov. Schwarzenegger vetoed last year's bill, claiming it was socialism. This year, he has his own universal health care proposal. A step in the right direction, his plan leaves many exemptions and assumptions that don't add up to universal care for all Californians. Health-insurance company profits soared 246 percent from 2000 to 2004.
Yee touts universal health care
The likelihood of Californians receiving universal health care was just one of many hot topics discussed during the first of several town hall meetings featuring state Sen. Leland Yee, D-San Francisco/San Mateo. The South San Francisco meeting Saturday led off a series of meetings to be held in both counties designed to allow residents the opportunity to voice their concerns to their representative. Lee focused on health care and discussed a series of recently introduced bills that could improve the health of kids, help stop dead-beat parents, provide emotional education to young students and stop citizens from using major roads as their own personal used car sales lot. Many Californians have no health care at all and those that make up the "working core" are steadily receiving less and less health insurance, Yee said.
Marchers rally for state health care
TRACY - Supporters of a health care plan to create a state-run single-payer system covering all California residents took to the streets of Tracy on Wednesday afternoon. About 30 children and adults took part in the rally, which sought to build support for state Sen. Sheila Kuehl's California Universal Healthcare Act. Kuehl's proposal would create a statewide fund into which employers and employees would pay. That fund would pay medical providers for health services they provide to residents, including the estimated 6.5 million uninsured. "I feel like we should all have insurance, regardless of our money situation," said marcher Josie Lopez, 75, of Tracy. Support for the bill is not universal. A number of business groups, including the California Chamber of Commerce, oppose Kuehl's bill.
SF long-term care costliest in California
Care in a nursing home or other long-term facility is more expensive in San Francisco than in any other city in California, according to a study released Tuesday by the nation's largest long-term care insurer. A private nursing-home room in San Francisco averages $110,121 a year, or about $301.70 a day, ranking it ninth out of 90 regions in the country surveyed by Genworth Financial. Among states, California was the eighth-most-expensive for nursing-home care at $87,845 a year. The study focused on a range of services that go under the heading of long-term care, from nursing-home services to home health assistance. Insurance for such care represents a growing segment of the health coverage market. But while long-term care coverage can provide consumers much-needed protection from the high costs of services, the insurance is expensive.
Self-employed losing health care options
A major source of health insurance for people who work for themselves has all but disappeared, casting thousands of contractors, freelancers and solo practitioners into the ranks of the uninsured with little hope of obtaining new coverage. Health plans offered by professional associations were once safe havens for millions of people who couldn't obtain coverage anywhere else. But, as medical costs have soared, groups representing professions as varied as law and golf have been forced to stop offering the benefit or been dropped by insurers. More than 8,000 California Realtors and their families could be next if Blue Shield of California succeeds with its plan to cancel their association health coverage. "It's a real stab in the heart," said Marcy Garber, 62, a Los Angeles real estate agent whose history of breast cancer makes her an almost-certain reject if she seeks similar coverage on her own.
California Mayors Recognize Anniversary Of Pet Insurance In America
In a broad show of support for California-based Veterinary Pet Insurance dozens of mayors across the 'Golden State' have written letters to VPI congratulating the pet-centric company on reaching the historic milestone of protecting America's pets for a quarter of a century.VPI has also proclaimed April 7 as National Pet Health Insurance Day in commemoration of the company's very first policy issued on that day in 1982 to television's Lassie. As the nation's oldest and largest pet health insurance provider, VPI has received signed letters of congratulations from over 50 mayor's offices throughout California, representing a population of nearly four million people -- including those in Long Beach, South San Francisco, Anaheim, Burbank, and VPI's headquarters, Brea -- conveying gratitude to VPI for its commitment to helping make proper veterinary care affordable and empowering pet owners to make optimal healthcare decisions for their pets."Because we were founded and have our headquarters in California, we place tremendous value on the support we've received from our leaders in cities and towns across the state," said Dennis P.
16 in US Have No Health Insurance
Mar. 23--An estimated 44.8 million people -- 16% of the U.S. population -- have no health insurance, according to revised 2005 statistics released Friday by the Census Bureau. The number of uninsured people in Michigan continues to grow, from 11.3% in 2004 to 11.5% in 2005. Still, Michigan ranks in the bottom 14 states with people lacking health insurance. Texas, with 24.6% uninsured, tops the list of states with the most uninsured, followed by New Mexico, Florida, Oklahoma and California.
Minnesota, with an uninsured rate of 8.7%, has the highest number of people with health insurance, followed by Hawaii, Iowa, Wisconsin and New Hampshire. Overall, 249 million Americans have health insurance. The majority of uninsured are working Americans. Only 27.3% did not have jobs.
Blue Cross Receives State Reprimand, Fine
Arecent investigation revealed just how low a health insurer can go, even the biggest one in California. The Department of Managed Health Care exposed the fact that Blue Cross of California committed scores of state law violations. Health insurance policyholders were dumped by Blue Cross and subjected to severe hardship because they made the mistake of getting pregnant or becoming chronically ill, according to state regulators. Yet, there was no indication that these policyholders did anything to merit such treatment. There were no indications that they lied on their applications to cover pre-existing medical conditions, which would be legal grounds for cancellation, or other offenses. In fact, regulators examined 90 randomly selected cases of policy cancellations and found Blue Cross violations in each one.
Insurance harder to come by
A major source of health insurance for people who work for themselves has all but disappeared, casting thousands of contractors, freelancers and solo practitioners into the ranks of the uninsured with little hope of obtaining new coverage. Health plans offered by professional associations were once safe havens for millions of people who couldn't obtain coverage anywhere else. But, as medical costs have soared, groups representing professions as varied as law and golf have been forced to stop offering the benefit or been dropped by insurers. More than 8,000 California Realtors and their families could be next if Blue Shield of California succeeds with its plan to cancel their association health coverage. "It's a real stab in the heart," said Marcy Garber, 62, a Los Angeles real estate agent whose history of breast cancer makes her an almost-certain reject if she seeks similar coverage on her own.
Study Shows Innovative Program Helps Kids Get Health Care
IRVINE, CA -- March 21, 2007 -- As state lawmakers consider ways to reach California's 6.5 million uninsured residents, new research from University of California, Irvine suggests that insurance brokers and other for-profit groups are key to helping eligible children enroll in government-funded health care programs.
UCI's Mireille Jacobson evaluated the impact of an innovative California incentive program that encouraged for-profit groups such as insurance brokers and income tax preparers, as well as non-profits, to help enroll children in the State Children's Health Insurance Program or Medicaid – programs for which an estimated 60% of uninsured children are eligible.
The incentive program, which began in 1998, paid $25 to $50 for each person the organization helped enroll or re-enroll in the state health care programs.
Illinois Joins Bandwagon On Health Care Reform
SPRINGFIELD, Ill.-Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich last week became the third governor in as many months to propose sweeping health care reform legislation to vastly reduce the number of uninsured. The Illinois governor's plan to provide coverage to the state's 1.4 million uninsured residents resembles earlier proposals in California and Pennsylvania. All the proposals, for example, would boost the number of people eligible for state health insurance premium subsidies; create state health insurance purchasing pools to make it easier and less expensive for the uninsured, and in some cases, small employers, to obtain coverage; and impose fees or assessments on most employers-except the smallest ones that do not offer health insurance. Gov. Blagojevich's proposal, though, differs from the others in several ways.
Insurers killing health coverages for associations
A major source of health insurance for people who work for themselves is disappearing, casting thousands of contractors, freelancers and solo practitioners into the ranks of the uninsured with little hope of obtaining new coverage.
Health plans offered by professional associations were once havens for millions of people who couldn't get coverage anywhere else. But as medical costs have soared, groups representing professions as varied as law and golf have been forced to stop offering the benefit or been dropped by insurers.
More than 8,000 people with coverage through the California Assn. of Realtors could be next if Blue Shield of California succeeds with its plan to cancel the group's health coverage.
"It's a real stab in the heart," said Marcy Garber, 62, an Encino real estate agent whose history of breast cancer makes her an almost-certain reject if she seeks similar coverage on her own.
For-Profit Groups Effective In Helping California Children Obtain ...
As state lawmakers consider ways to reach California's 6.5 million uninsured residents, new research from UC Irvine suggests that insurance brokers and other for-profit groups are key to helping eligible children enroll in government-funded health care programs.
UCI's Mireille Jacobson evaluated the impact of an innovative California incentive program that encouraged for-profit groups such as insurance brokers and income tax preparers, as well as non-profits, to help enroll children in the State Children's Health Insurance Program or Medicaid - programs for which an estimated 60 percent of uninsured children are eligible.
The incentive program, which began in 1998, paid $25 to $50 for each person the organization helped enroll or re-enroll in the state health care programs.
|
