Kevin Knauss: Health, History, Travel, Insurance
What makes my video unique beyond my pictures from around California? Probably not much other than I try to keep it simple. There are no flashy animations or cool music. The text is simple and in large fonts. In short, if you suffer from insomnia, California Health Insurance Market Place video might be the cure.
In September, Anthem Blue Cross will be mailing members enrolled in California plans that their health insurance may not be renewed in 2014 as certain plans will be discontinued. Because Blue Cross is selling individual and family insurance through Covered California, the new health care reform insurance market place, they are not allowed to offer non ACA-compliant plans outside of the exchange.
Health insurance company Blue Shield of California announced that they will be sending rebate checks for certain health insurance plans that didn’t meet the Medical Loss Ratio in 2012. Some large and small employer groups along with individual and family plan members will receive rebates equivalent to .2% up to 3.4% of their 2012 premiums.
While some industry analysts point a finger at new guarantee issue rules for individual plans as a reason UHC and Aetna are vacating California, both are still retaining their lines of employer group business which IS ALL GUARANTEE ISSUE. It is rather disheartening that UHC and Aetna have taken such a cynical profit driven approach to the individual market in California and in other states.
Aetna hinted in their announcement that a combination of the new health insurance exchange and required benefits forced them to pull the plug on their individual plans. In recent years, Aetna has never been very competitive in terms of price with other carriers such as Anthem Blue Cross, Health Net and Blue Shield of California
People who have Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plans (PCIP) through the California PCIP are being transitioned to a federal administrator of the program July 1. Letters have been sent out to members enrolled in the PCIP program directing them to send their next payment to the National Finance Center.
The emergency regulations force all “non-grandfathered” plans to include the 10 EHBs which means that plans offered through Covered California won’t be put at a substantial competitive disadvantage. Plans not offering all the benefits would have been priced lower than plans in the state exchange. While health insurance plans offered outside the Covered California may still be less expensive for a variety of reasons, at least they will have equivalent benefit designs.
Health Net announced that under the Affordable Care Act Medical Loss Ratio requirements they would be issuing a rebate of .3% to their small groups in California based on 2012 expenditures. The letters dated May 30, 2013 are being sent to the small group administrators and subscribers.
Where do I get health insurance? 1. Medi-Cal,California’s version of Medicaid, is available to individuals and family’s whose income is Modified Adjusted Income is under 138% of the federal poverty level. Children’s dental and vision benefits are included. Adult dental benefits are also offered. Each California county administers Medi-Cal enrollment, but eligibility can be done […]
I’ve talked with numerous people who, like me, had high hopes that CO-OPs would be a consumer focused option where the business model was not driven by profits.
