If you have always had health insurance provided through either a family member or your employer, shopping for health insurance yourself might be something new to you. It isn’t quite as daunting as it sounds; if you have shopped for auto or homeowner’s insurance, it is fairly similar. There are a few key things to [...]
Politico (7/29, Norman) reports, “The Affordable Care Act will drive health care spending up slightly, to nearly a fifth of the country’s gross domestic product by 2020, while extending insurance coverage to 30 million more Americans, a new report from” the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). Yet, “health care’s hefty share of the [...]
Blue Shield’s Pledge Consistent with our not-for-profit mission to provide all Californians with access to quality care at an affordable price and our longstanding commitment to health reform, we are taking an immediate and tangible step toward making coverage more affordable. At noon today, CEO Bruce Bodaken will make a public pledge to limit our [...]
The AP (3/17) reports, “Blue Shield of California said Wednesday it was withdrawing its plan to increase health insurance rates for individual policyholders in what would have been the third such rate hike since October.” Some subscribers would have seen premiums raised by as much as 87% under the plan, which the company says was [...]
The Los Angeles Times (1/28, Ceasar, Helfand) reports that “three of California’s largest health insurers,” Anthem Blue Cross, Aetna, and PacifiCare, “have agreed to delay for 60 days planned rate hikes for thousands of customers after state Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones asked for time to review the increases.” The three companies “agreed to delay the [...]
Choosing the right insurance for you and your family can be a difficult decision, and the terminology used in policies, especially in the health insurance market, can make the options available even more complicated. If you are considering health insurance options, understanding the difference between HMOs and PPOs can help make the choice easier and [...]
Did you know: 10-year study indicates spending for prescription drug use in America is on the rise? U.S. spending for prescription drugs more than doubled to $234.1 billion over the 10 years covered by a study released by the Centers for Disease Control in September 2010 as part of its National Center for Health Statistics [...]
Did you know: Peripheral artery disease costs Americans $21 billion a year? Peripheral artery disease accounts for $21 billion a year in hospitalizations, according to a recent University of Minnesota study funded by Sanofi-Aventis and Bristol-Myers-Squibb. Currently, more than 8 million Americans suffer from peripheral artery disease. That number is expected to rise as baby [...]
Choosing the right health insurance plan for you and your family can often seem like an overwhelming and confusing task. Your family’s health and wellbeing are your top priority, and making sure they are protected should anything ever happen is one of the most important decisions you’ll ever make. So what questions should you ask [...]
Did you know: Annual cost of motor vehicle crashes exceeds $99 billion, with medical costs totaling $17 billion In a one-year period, the cost of medical care and productivity losses associated with injuries from motor vehicle crashes exceeded $99 billion – with the cost of direct medical care accounting for $17 billion, according to a [...]