Within the contract that all insurance companies had to sign to offer health plans through Covered California was the stipulation that the “contractor” (aka insurance company or health plan) cancel all outstanding policies that didn’t comply with the ACA by December 31, 2013.
Archives for November 2013
California Medicare Advantage Plan Star Ratings
If a Medicare Advantage plan has been awarded a 5 Star rating from Medicare you’ll see that trumpeted in TV commercials and print advertising. The star rating that either the Medicare Advantage or Part D Prescription Drug plan must display is a composite of 35 different measurements. Perhaps the most important rating for most beneficiaries is the level of customer service if there is a problem.
Bronze versus Silver Plan Pharmacy Benefits
Even though health insurance plans have been greatly simplified with the introduction of the metal tiers of Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum under the ACA, careful consideration should still be given when comparing the coverage and benefits. In particular, for many people that have recurring brand name prescriptions medications, selecting the least expensive Bronze plan […]
Is it time to boycott Covered California?
Thousands of health insurance agents across California have done what Covered California has asked us to do to become certified to sell their new health plans. Unfortunately, Covered California has not held up their end of the agreement by creating an agent system within the CalHEERS website that allows us to monitor the progress of an application or to know if we will ever get paid. I am now leaning toward taking my client business right to the carriers and boycotting Covered California altogether.
One woman’s quest for health insurance through Covered California
So I bit the bullet and attended a local community presentation by a volunteer from a Certified Educator for CoveredCA adding to the information I had recently researched online. After the talk, I conferred with the presenter who was a volunteer through Sacramento Mighty Oaks and stated my concerns about my situation. She was wonderful, gladly offering to be in touch with me with answers in the days that followed.
Did “We Connect” with Covered California?
The California Endowment teamed up with the Service Employees International Union- United Healthcare Worker West to host a “We Connect” event at the Sacramento Convention Center to enroll local residents in new Covered California Affordable Care Act health plans. While the production of the event was fairly glossy and festive, like many aspects of enrolling in the new ACA plans through Covered California there were many frustrations and challenges for attendees and volunteers
Covered California website: frustrations and failures
From problems with logging in, bad and missing information to the virtually inoperable agent dashboard, the Covered California web portal to enroll in new ACA health plans has serious issues that no one at the California Health Benefits Exchange wants to address openly.
Sutter hospitals happy to increase health care costs with double billing
But with the announcement that Sutter Hospital will pay $46 million to settle a lawsuit that alleged they were double billing for anesthesia services during surgeries, you have to wonder how much hospitals, in an attempt to recoup the expenses of unpaid Emergency Room care, are gaming the complexity of the billing code system to pad their bottom line.
Blue Shield delays cancellation of California health insurance
Blue Shield of California has agreed to allow upwards of 115,000 individual and family plan members to keep their existing policies through March 31, 2014. The press release from the office of Insurance Commissioner Jones indicated the agreement to allow the policy holders to keep their plans past the original December 31, 2013 cancellation date was the result of a late filing or notification requirement for plan closures on the part of Blue Shield.
Hiking down the Folsom Lake Peninsula
The peninsula was once a major thoroughfare for gold prospectors and commerce from Sacramento to the mines on the western side of the north fork of the American River. Today, the chunk of land known as the Peninsula Campground is isolated and decidedly very quiet as travel to this state park is a circuitous drive because […]