Under the bright glow of the Granite Bay High School LED monument sign, local residents and students gathered to rally in support of the school play The Laramie Project. The famously anti-gay, hate filled, military funeral protesting Westboro Baptist Church had hinted that they might protest the LGBT themed play’s opening.
Archives for January 2014
Covered California releases worthless health plan rating report
In an attempt to help consumers decide on the right health plan, Covered California has compiled a star rating system for the health insurance carriers based on outdated information. Even worse than basing a report on old data is the disastrous customer service that many Californians have experienced from many of these health insurance companies, including Covered California, in the last two months. The horrible customer service and nightmare enrollment process is not reflected in the new quality rating results.
An alternative to the Individual Mandate
The Individual Mandate of the Affordable Care Act psychologically chafes folks who don’t appreciate the government telling them what they have to purchase. Count me in that segment. If one of the goals of the Individual Mandate is to make people take responsibility for expensive health care, an alternative might be an unforgivable tax liability on those people who have chosen to forego health insurance and incur large medical expanses that go unpaid.
Covered California needs walk-in enrollment centers
Covered California just announced they received another grant for more marketing of their health plans. In the words of one of the Covered California Board members, Paul Fearer, “I’m concerned about ramping up on media if we aren’t fully prepared to deal or provide excellent customer service in response.” Covered California needs to scrap the slick marketing and “one touch and done” concept to enrollment and open up walk-in enrollment centers to service Californian residents.
Covered California Board Meeting, January 2014
At the January 23, 2014 Covered California Board meeting I made public comments regarding the numerous applications for enrollment that had failed to be transmitted to chosen health insurance carriers. I have documented the numerous instances where I’ve enrolled individuals and families into a Covered California health plan only to learn the health insurance company never received the data.
Confusing Covered California Eligibility Letters
Covered California continues to sabotage their customer service operations by sending out confusing eligibility and verification request letters to new applicants of ACA plans. Individuals and families receiving these letters are confused by Covered California informing them what programs and plans they aren’t eligible for, no mention of what they have enrolled in and requests for documentation they have already uploaded to the CalHEERS enrollment website.
Insurance companies deny health care with restricted networks
When the insurance companies are having their risk for unexpectedly high health care expenses subsidized they should not have the luxury of creating tight doctor and hospital networks. The restrictions on network providers for cost containment purposes is exceptionally irritating when it is the plan members that are helping fund part of the risk reduction provisions by having to pay for the reinsurance fee on qualified health plans. Restricted networks and new EPOs are just a “work around” solution to allow health insurance companies to selectively limit health care like they have done in the past.
My cheap Northern California water never fosters conservation
With Gov. Brown declaring California is in an official drought, some water districts in Northern California must now get serious about making their customers conserve water. At least one water district rewards consumers for higher consumption with lower rates. With cheap water, where is the incentive to conserve?
Anderson Island Bridge and Zantgraf Mine hike
The east side of the north fork of the American River is challenging to hike because of the lack of accessibility and rugged terrain along the Folsom Lake. After I discovered the abutment for a bridge on the west side of the river, I had to get to Anderson Island on the other side. Not only was I able to find the suspension bridge cables, I found the ruins of Zantgraf mine which is fairly well preserved.
IRS limits on ACA Advance Premium Tax Credit repayment
One of the hidden dangers of the Affordable Care Act’s Advance Premium Tax Credit (APTC) provision to lower the cost of health insurance is the possibility of having too much tax credit issued for the tax payer’s final income. If the ACA applicant doesn’t report increases to the household income during the year, which triggers a corresponding decrease in premium assistance, the tax payer will be liable to pay the excess back. Fortunately, there are limits to the repayment of excess APTC based on household income.