Kevin Knauss: Health, History, Travel, Insurance
Posts related to the rates or premiums charged by health insurance companies for their health plans.
As if to defy traditional market economics, the water consumption in the Granite Bay retail division of the San Juan Water District dropped without the advent price hikes. This water conservation, solely at the behest of the water districts and California officials, illustrates that consumers can change their consumption based on good information and awareness […]
A five star Medicare Advantage will be paid $890 in Sacramento County, $947 in San Francisco County, $951 in Los Angeles County and $856 in San Diego County per month by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid for each enrolled member. The data and calculations that go into determining the monthly reimbursement or capitation rate for Medicare […]
Covered California enrollments assisted by Certified Insurance Agents are producing a minimum of $9.2 million per month in commissions as estimated from enrollment statistics released by the states ACA exchange. While this number may sound impressive, a good chunk of the enrollments were for individuals and families who already had health insurance. With many health […]
With a peek at the enrollment statistics released by Covered California after the end of the ACA open enrollment we are able to visualize just how large the health insurance industry is in the state. While the enrollment data is only for individual and family plans (IFP) purchased through Covered California, the 1.3 million individuals […]
Medi-Cal health insurance premiums paid to managed care health plans or Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs) is a sizeable sum of money. The California Department of Health Care Services estimates the average monthly cost for each Medi-Cal beneficiary is $611. Expanded Medicaid, where families earning less than 138% of the federal poverty line are automatically enrolled in Medi-Cal through Covered California, encompasses a population who is often healthier and use fewer health care services than beneficiaries who qualified under the original Medi-Cal rules.
How much is water worth? For Starbucks, they are able to take $0.66 worth of Folsom Lake water and convert it into $11,668.80 dollars. The San Juan Water District, who treats and delivers drought depleted Folsom Lake water to residential and commercial customers, is asking homeowners to use less water and pay more for it while company’s like Starbucks generate handsome revenues from residential conservation. The current and proposed Stage 3 Water Warning rate structure continues to have residential customers pay more per unit than Starbucks and other commercial uses who use the water to create revenue and profits.
San Juan Water District dedicated their February Board meeting to reviewing the impending water shortage created by a drought shrunken Folsom Lake and the necessity for increasing retail water rates in their Granite Bay service area. While there was discussion on potential mandatory outdoor water restrictions, non-residential customers such as the exclusive Granite Bay Golf Club seem to escape any meaningful rate increase in the proposals.
With the impending drought in California we are long over due for a residential water rate restructuring. No longer can we continue to price water based on water district’s budgets to meet their financial goals. We need a reality based seasonally adjusted water rate structure model that should be based on a consumer’s lot size, home type and the specific climate of the region. Such a rate structure would give homeowners and irrigation managers a benchmark on how much water they should be using and real incentives to conserve.
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?
Many Californians are seeing their individual and family health insurance premiums jump with the inclusion of all the new Affordable Care Act benefits and regulations. A small sampling of the new ACA rates shows that Covered California individual health plans are comparably priced with current and future small group plans offered in California.
