Update on the NAIC’s Role in PPACA Implementation
The medical loss ratio (MLR) is the most important aspect of healthcare reform. This interpretation of this law is going to determine if the private industry stays in business. The one positive thing is the NAIC is in charge of interpreting the MLR. The National Association of Insurance Commissioners was charged by Congress with considerable […]
Indiana Hospital Compare
The Government website www.healthcare.gov has just released a free service for comparing hospitals services. This tool provides a listing of Indianapolis hospitals, and 44 quality measures. This kind of information is cutting edge when it comes to healthcare. Recently companies like Anthem and Unitedhealthcare have released these kinds of tool to their clients. Now everyone can access this type […]
Indiana HealthCare Reform
As we move through and have a better understanding of this very complicated health care reform it becomes clearer the disconnect from the white house and real life. This is so complicated and the effects are only going to raise costs. For Small group health plans there is very little chance they can be grandfathered […]
The Changing Cost of Healthcare in Indiana.
Last week there was an article in the Indianapolis Star called Do your home work or pay the price. http://www.indystar.com/article/20100629/BUSINESS/6270392/1003/BUSINESS It was a very interesting article because it address what has been going on in the health care industry locally and the rest of the country. What we are are seeing is hospital groups buying up smaller medical practices. […]
New HHS Website
http://healthfinder.gov/ Was recently launched to help people understand what options they have from a health insurance standpoint. The site also incorporates disease management. So now every0ne has a tool that they can use to look at health insurance options. In the past a % of the population has gone uninsured because they did not know […]
Avg Group Health Plan in Indiana
This is a interesting view of plan designs. The specific breakdown of industry and co pays is really interesting. According to the data, transportation and financial services employees are paying more for office visit copays than those employees in the manufacturing, services and wholesale industries. Based on recent 2010 data from Highroads, an industry leader in […]
HHS Releases Final Interim Guidance on Several PPACA Provisions
HHS Releases Final Interim Guidance on Several PPACA Provisions On June 22, 2010, the Departments of Health & Human Services, Labor, and Treasury issued new regulations that better define the following PPACA provisions: No Pre-Existing Condition Exclusions for Anyone Under Age 19 No Arbitrary Rescissions of Insurance Coverage No Lifetime Dollar Limits on Coverage […]
High-Risk Insurance Pools Cost More
Health care reforms high-risk insurance pools will have difficult choices ahead. The CBO Director Doug Elmendorf laid out the stark choices facing a program. The $5 billion dollars will run out in before 2013. To extend the coverage to 600,000 more Americans would cost $5 -$10 billion more than estimated. Health and Human Services Secretary […]
Health Care Reform Impacts Indiana Maternity Coverage
Starting in the fall, all new health plans must cover certain preventive screenings and other services for pregnant women at no additional cost to the patient. Those include folic acid supplements, which reduce the risk of neural tube defects in developing fetuses, and counseling to help pregnant women stop smoking. Medicaid will also begin to […]
Keeping Grandfathered Health Plans?
The Grandfathered clause of the new health care reform gave individuals and group plans the right to keep their current plans. To keep that grandfathered status you can not make any changes to the plan. So that means you can not raise the deductible or coinsurance to lower the premium. From a employer standpoint the […]
