Lawmakers grill WellPoint over health insurance hikes
November 11th, 2009 | 
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Barack Obama’s ambitious health care plan is fairly simple and straightforward. His plan seeks to dramatically and swiftly increase the number of people that have health insurance. He insists that this plan will save the typical American family approximately $2500 in annual costs. Since the average Ohio health insurance premium is less than most other states, savings to Ohio residents may average less than $2500.
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The Obama plan is designed to give the federal government more control over health care decisions and dollars, a major difference from the current decentralized system of employer-based insurance and state-based insurance regulation. Here in Ohio, health insurers have been effectively held in check by the Ohio Department of Insurance. This, however, is not the case in many other states.
The Obama Plan
Many parts of the Obama plan resemble initiatives from the Clinton health plan of 1994 and the Kerry Health plan of 2004.
Essentially, Obama’s health care plan is divided into three sections:
1. Modernizing the US health care system to lower costs and improve quality
2. Promoting prevention and strengthening public health
3. Quality, portable and affordable health coverage for every person
The “Savings”
The $2500 in savings will come from health care reform, using some of the following initiatives:
*Making health insurance universal, which may reduce spending on uncompensated care.
*Improving management and prevention of chronic conditions.
*Increasing insurance industry competition and reducing underwriting costs and profits.
*Providing reinsurance for catastrophic coverage, which will reduce insurance premiums.
Shifting Cost Burden
While all of these ideas are feasible, the underlying theme seems to be simply shifting some of the cost burden from the private sector to the government. And of course, much more control of our health dollars and decisions would come from Washington D.C and not Anthem or UnitedHealthCare.
The Obama plan will actually compete directly with Ohio private health insurance companies in a “National Health Insurance Exchange.” The federal government (not health insurance carriers) would determine the quality of health benefits that Americans would receive. And these new rules would apply to both the new national health plan and all participating private health plans.
Preventative Coverage Would Be Emphasized
Obama’s health care plan will encourage “healthy lifestyles” with specific emphasis on wellness. Employer wellness programs will be increased, and cafeterias and vending machines in the workplace may see healthier food.
School-based health screening programs may increase along with increased support for physical education.
For Ohio individuals and families, the Obama plan would require preventative services on many federally-supported health programs such as Medicare, Medicaid and SCHIP. One benefit may be possible discounts to on health insurance premiums for enrollment in wellness and prevention programs.
Currently, some Ohio individual health insurance policies offer a similar discount, such as Anthem’s Lumenos Health Incentive Account (HIA).
Ohio Group Health Insurance
Employer-based health insurance would radically change under the Obama plan. Here in Ohio, both small and large employers are able to choose among many different health plans for their employees. The Obama plan would force employers to offer a specific level of health benefits to their employees or pay a tax to finance a national health program. Currently, the amount of provided health benefits and the size of the tax have not been specifically discussed.
Perhaps the best and most economical health insurance plan for Ohio residents would be a concept already in place…HSAs (Health Savings Accounts). Thus, instead of imposing a top-down change on the health care system, it would seem to be prudent to transfer direct control of health care dollars to individuals and families. This would allow Americans to choose their own health plans and benefits, while making health insurance companies compete directly for consumer’s dollars by providing a real value to patients.
All of this could be accomplished by specific tax and regulatory changes designed to utilize the power of free-market competition. Health care spending could be reduced, preventative treatment could be emphasized and portability could be promoted. Reforming the tax treatment of health insurance and aiding employers that help their employees buy health insurance would help quite a bit.
For now, Ohio health insurance rates are remarkably low compared to many other states. There are many reputable health insurance companies that offer a wide array of policies, including Health Savings Accounts. That shouldn’t change much for the next two years. In 2011, things might change…hopefully, for the better.
For additional information on Ohio health insurance plans, or an instant Ohio health insurance quote, please visit http://www.ohioquotes.com
Question about health insuranceHealth Insurance?
I'm doing an assignment on health insurance and I wanted to know why is it a good thing to get health insurance?
Thanks!!!
Posted in Healthcare
The Republicans are in trouble now. People are getting slaughtered and they don’t even have a healthcare bill to go on TV with against the Big-Bad-Bama. Their strategy is to cover a handful of people – let the rest burn & complain about the deficit. Great Plan!
1) Most employer provided health insurance is deducted "pre-tax" so there is no deduction on the tax return.
2) Your parents must be your dependents (or would have been your dependents except for the gross income test) for you to take a deduction anyway. So, unless you are supporting them: No.
The 20% does NOT automatically get deducted from the paycheck!!!!
You will probably have a co-pay that is due at the time of service. You will then be billed for the 20% not covered by your health insurance.
There are certain government programs and nonprofit organizations that can help.
One such program is at:
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/financialassistance.html
For a list of federally funded health centers go to:
http://findahealthcenter.hrsa.gov/
You can find many more government and low cost resources for all kinds of health concerns at
http://www.simplyinsurancequotes.com/links.php?id=bghott12bq09
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Here you can get quotes for private insurance:
http://www.simplyinsurancequotes.com/healthcomparison.html?id=xyo0tt24m009
more at:
http://www.getinstantcover.motoclassica.co.uk/AmericanHealthQuotes.html?id=xyo0tt24m009
You've asked a very broad question. There is no simple answer.
In truth, health insurance works a little differently in each state.
To answer your specific questions:
1) No, health insurance is not compulsory for everyone. If you're lucky, you are able to join a group policy at work. (If you're really lucky, it's a good policy and the employer pays at least half of it.) Some states have recently made it compulsory, but that's such a recent change that there's no clear cut answer yet for how that's going to work.
2) What happens if someone can't afford it is… they don't get it, usually. Except if your income puts you below the "poverty level", in which case you qualify for Medicaid. (In some states there are programs that typically provide assistance with insuring children, though they are few and far between for covering adults.)
3) Health insurance rarely covers all the bills when you have a procedure done. Most plans cover 50-80% after you meet your deductible. The deductible amounts vary widely (but the trend is that the deductibles are getting higher and higher to keep the premiums down.) If you're really, REALLY lucky, you don't have a deductible (which is only an option on group plans), and you may only have to pay 10% of covered charges. (These plans are few and far between. As in, you might have them if you're in Congress.)
4) Yes, the patient has some say over procedures. However, if the patient opts for an "experimental" procedure, or one that isn't deemed "medically necessary", then health insurance may refuse to cover any charges at all.
In the end, as with most things, the middle class takes the brunt of these costs. This has become such a problem that more than 50% of all bankruptcies are as a result of medical bills (and of those, more than 75% had health insurance.)
** Edited to add:
It's not ALL about the money when a procedure is involved. If it is, the state keeps track of complaints filed on behalf of consumers with "managed care" (ie. any type of network arrangement including Preferred Provider Organizations, Health Maintenance Organizations, and Point of Service organizations — also known as PPO, HMO, and POS) and may very well revoke a company's charter to do business in the state should the company be turning down too many legitimate claims.
However, insurance companies are sticklers for following the "standard" for medical care. This is what makes it difficult to answer your question. Because they should not deny anything that's considered standard for care in the given circumstances (should not and will not being two completely different things, of course.) And there may be several options that would be considered "standard." If the patient wants treatment that isn't yet considered "standard", they would balk. Period.
No.
The insurance through your husband's employer does not meet the test of having been established through the S-corp.
Well, if she's 40 and perfectly healthy, it's going to cost her about $500 a month to have a low/no deductible plan that covers checkups.
You BUY it on a month to month basis. If you want low monthly payments, you have to cut the coverage – like take a $10,000 deductible. Or higher. That would cut payments down to maybe $200 a month or less.
The older she is, the less healthy she is, the more it costs.
Your best bet, is to find a local, independent agent, who can help you balance cost with coverage.
i htought the main reason of living in a society was to help each other out, am i wrong?
most insurance will cover the costs you mention if the doctor thinks it is medically necessary.
The purpose of any type of insurance is to protect against catastrophic loss. Using health insurance as an example, most everyday medical expenses are not very expensive (a physical exam averages $150.00+/-), but if you are admitted to the hospital for an emergency your medical bills would be in the tens of thousands of dollars at a minimum. If you do not have insurance you "self-insure" againts that potential catastrophic loss. Without insurance, the average person would face financial ruin if faced with a major loss.