We've been noting the looming provider shortage for quite a while, driven in part by the increasing number of docs planning to retire rather than turn over control of care to a federal bureaucracy.And that phenomenon seems to be accelerating:"The 2013 Deloitte Survey of U.S. Physicians ... found that "Six in 10 physicians (62...
Michael Stack hosts next week's Cav. Entries are due by Monday (the 1st).To submit your risk-related post, just click here to email it.You'll need to provide:■ Your post's url and title■ Your blog's url and name■ Your name and email■ A (brief) summary of the postPLEASE remember: ONLY posts that relate to risk (not personal finance tips and the like). And please only submit if you are willing...
There are some new developments in a story we've been covering for the past several years. From our September 1, 2011 post:"Retired city of Cincinnati workers argued in court Tuesday that City Hall is obligated to provide them for the rest of their lives with an extremely generous health coverage plan"Fast forward a year-and-a-half,...
Carriers are being coy about their decision to play the Obamacare HIX Wheel of Fortune. Some have hinted they may not participate in any exchanges, while others say they will pick their battle ground.Regardless, consumers will have FEWER choices than before Obamacare and prices will definitely be higher.Knowledge@Wharton: You...
Remember this:Turns out, not so much:"Millions of Americans will be priced out of health insurance under [The ObamaTax] because of a glitch in the law that adversely affects people with modest incomes who cannot afford family coverage offered by their employers"As we've long noted, one of the key promises was that folks unable to afford the new, sky-high premiums would get rate relief through...
The Obama administration expended huge effort to enact a law that will increase choices, coverage, and insurance funding for the general population.At the same time it seeks to reduce choices, coverage, and insurance funding for seniors.Why? Is there some rationale that explains these two seemingly opposite objectives?...
Medicare Advantage cuts are coming. There is no debate about that. A combination of Obamacare cuts and CMS directives means less funding for Medicare Advantage plans in 2013. Seniors on Medicare will have fewer choices. Medicare Advantage plan premiums will be higher. Copay's, deductibles and out of pocket maximums will all increase due to Medicare Advantage cuts.So...
Interesting article on the increase in people sharing housing costs:"With the cost of living on the rise and showing no sign of slowing down, total strangers desperate to save money are moving in together.As CBS 2’s Dana Tyler reported Tuesday, older adults and even families are using this method to pool their resources. And the new communities are redefining the modern family."ObamaCare and most...
[Last week, Guest-Blogger Patrick Paule wrote about the potentially dangerous role untrained, unaccountable ObamaTax Navigators are slated to play in the Exchanges. This week, he's back with an update about efforts in the Ohio legislature to mitigate these problems. In fact, Patrick provided input on the bill in question. Although this concerns efforts in the Ohio legislature, the issues and problems...
HWR co-founder Julie Ferguson hosts this week's outstanding collection of interesting posts from around the wonk-o-sphere. It's a bit chilly outside, but you're sure to find something to wearm you up at this week's 'Revi...
As we pointed out last Fall, folks who fail to inform their families about existing life insurance policies do those left behind a grave disservice. For one thing, it gives the government even more ammo to micro-manage people's finances (who do you think pays carriers' compliance costs?). For another, it can cause unnecessary, and easily avoided, anguish.The Insurance Information Institute has some...
In a comment to my post explaining how co-insurance works, Mike offered up a very helpful correction:"... this is EXACTLY the way coinsurance works for Medicare Part B.Anyone with Part B is on the hook for 20% of their Part B expenses no matter how large those expenses might be."Quite so, and it gets worse:"Medicare Has Stopped...
As Nate pointed out earlier, actual experts in health care delivery and financing anticipate huge spikes in the cost of both. Ever on the bleeding edge, HHS Secretary Shecantbeserious has weighed in: "Some people purchasing new insurance policies for themselves this fall could see premiums rise because of requirements in the...
In a story out this AM we are warned claim cost are expected to increase 80% in Ohio for those with individual policies. In basic math that would correspond to an 80% increase in premiums."While some states will see medical claims costs per person decline, the report concluded the overwhelming majority will see double-digit increases in their individual health insurance markets, where people purchase...
It sure is nice to see someone else using this metaphor:"Illinois wants to be the engine that pulls states toward the Affordable Care Act, yet a metaphorical “train wreck” is just around the bend ... Illinois saved $1.1 billion last year, but lawmakers were expecting $1.6 billion in savings. The state has $2.3 billion in unpaid...
So this arrived in email:"Higher coinsurance rates correspond to higher annual limits on medical out-of-pocket costs"Okay, I'll bite; after all, most non-HDHP (hight deductible health plans, like HSA's) have some cost-sharing (aka co-insurance), and 80/20 is pretty standard.But what, exactly, does 80/20 mean?Well, you won't...
Not only did they have to pass the bill in order to know what was in it, but now it seems they had to contrive the application so we will know what they are really up to in Washington.The 61-page online Obamacare draft application for health care includes asking if the applicant wants to register to vote, raising the specter...
Coming on the heals of the Time article taking hospital billing abuse mainstream, NPR drops a bomb on the disability racket.http://apps.npr.org/unfit-for-work/It is long but uses every bit of its length to drive the point home. Hopefully this can get the conversation started on reforming not only a broken but designed to never work system.Time and NPR practicing real journalism, not at all what I...
Here’s my take on this interesting article from Avik Roy over at Forbes this morning, about progress toward implementation of Health Care Exchanges.Gary Cohen, a CMS official involved in exchange implementation, said “my hopes are the range of things that could go wrong gets narrower.”Henry Chao, an official at CMS, said he once held high hopes that the exchanges would run smoothly from the beginning,...
Why is it that we're told - on the one hand - that insurance premiums are too high, but when an employer tries something as simple as a health screening to accomplish this, it's a terrible, horrible, no-good intrusion on our privacy?Recently, drugstore behemoth CVS introduced a program to enable its covered employees to mitigate...
Gilbert Keith (G. K.) Chesterton, the philospher and author, once sagely observed:"In the matter of reforming things, as distinct from deforming them, there is one plain and simple principle; a principle which will probably be called a paradox. There exists in such a case a certain institution or law; let us say, for the sake...
Jacob Irwin hosts this week's collection of interesting and thought-provoking risk-related posts, and on the first day of Spring, no less!Do check it out.And consider hosting one yourself - it's fast, easy and fun. Just drop us a note to claim yours....
■ From email:"On March 8, 2013, [HHS Secretary Shecantbeserious] ... issued a Frequently Asked Question (FAQ) announcing that compliance with most [ObamaTax] provisions is being delayed for expatriate plans ... Expatriate coverage will qualify as minimum essential coverage for purposes of the individual mandate"Expat health...
In recent years, a growing number of doctors have begun holding group appointments — seeing up to a dozen patients with similar medical concerns all at once. Advocates of the approach say such visits allow doctors to treat more patients, spend more time with them (even if not one-on-one), increase appointment availability and...
Meh:"Sens. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) and Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) are winning praise for a bill to kill the Affordable Care Act's tax on health insurance."From whom? Certainly not their party's leadership, which has been conspicuously quiet on the matter.Do go on, though, gentlemen:"Higher insurance costs, fewer jobs and smaller paychecks...
[Patrick Paule is a regular reader and commenter here at IB. Recently, he emailed us regarding an article about "insurance enrollers" in Exchanges. His extensive background in insurance and securities gives him a unique perspective on this potentially dangerous development, so we asked him to pen this Guest Post to explain...
■ Remember that promise that The ObamaTax wouldn't add "one dime" to the deficit? Well, that may be literally true, but:"Figures from the Government Accountability Office suggest that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act will in fact add 62 trillion dimes over the next 75 years."Ooops.Now, 75 years might seem like...
It is great to see continued discussion of Steven Brills' tome in Time.In Sight thinks the charge master complaints are a distraction:"However, from a system perspective, I think the chargemaster that Mr. Brill repeatedly attacks is a distraction. The chargemaster is the internal list of prices that every hospital keeps for every procedure and supply item that the hospital uses. These are the prices...
Came across this ad on Not Running a Hospital, Empathy: The Human Connection to Patient Care: A 4 minute video on empathy, which apparently ceases to exist once the care stops and the billing starts. Billing 1000%+ of cost? Demanding 500%+ profit margins from PPO clients, suing those that don't hire a PPO and play by their rules for the difference.I can see why the Clinic would be spending money to...
I have a pre-existing condition and have been on the pre-existing condition insurance plan, Obamacare, for more than a year. My out-of-pocket expense was increased 10 percent in January.Now, a new frightening message is active when I call the customer service number, (800) 220-7898.All citizens should call this number and listen...
When DC critters plotted the grandiose scheme to take over the delivery of health insurance they did not expect so much push back . . . at least not early on.They thought carriers would rush to get on board and pick up thousands of new policyholders.Most carriers are running away.DC imagined lower premiums and more choices.What...
Fellow insurance blogger Jeff Root poses an interesting question about life insurance underwriting and e-cigarettes: is "vaping" (e-cig users' preferred term) the same as "smoking?"Leaving aside any health or social aspects, the issue becomes what rate class one may expect to receive if one uses e-cigs. Most life insurance...
Jacob Irwin hosts next week's Cav. Entries are due by Monday (the 18th).To submit your risk-related post, just click here to email it.You'll need to provide:■ Your post's url and title■ Your blog's url and name■ Your name and email■ A (brief) summary of the postPLEASE remember: ONLY posts that relate to risk (not personal finance tips and the like). And please only submit if you are willing...
The folks in DC are hard at work trying to make applying for Obamacare a lot easier. The Kaiser Health News critters give us Dick and Jane Sign up for the Exchange . . . complete with 2 easy to follow video's.The 21-page written application is printed in a fetching orange color. CMS estimates it will take 45 minutes...
