For most employees, October means open enrollment for benefits, including health insurance. Elections are made for the coming year and are irrevocable unless there is a family event such as marriage or the birth of a child. A study conducted by EHealthInsurance in late 2011 indicated that 52% of those respondents who have health insurance… Continue reading Make Open Enrollment Work For You and Your Family
Concierge medicine has been touted in the media. The lead character in a new prime time television show is a concierge doctor whose patients are only the very wealthy. Do these physicians have a net worth requirement to become a patient? What exactly is concierge medicine? Can anyone afford it? Most concierge doctors are internists.… Continue reading Concierge Medicine: What Exactly Is It?
In what has been characterized as the most important decision ever rendered by the Supreme Court, the Affordable Care Act (ACA), better known as Obamacare, was upheld by a 5-4 vote, with the opinion written by Chief Justice Roberts. Although there has been significant media attention on this verdict, there continues to be little understanding… Continue reading The Supreme Court Says Yes to Obamacare: What Exactly Does That Mean?
In a matter of days, the Supreme Court will render its verdict on ACA. Will it be all, nothing, or somewhere in between? It’s easy to find justification for any of the three outcomes in the media. There seems no one way that is uniformly better than the other two. Significant media coverage on the… Continue reading Women’s Health without ACA: Better? Unlikely.
Prescription drugs have long been an important component of employer sponsored health insurance plans. Most prescriptions have a co pay in the $10-$20 range, however more recently there have been drugs with higher copays, and other drugs that aren’t covered at all, meaning the entire cost is paid for by the individual. Having a higher… Continue reading Prescriptions: Is a Specialty Drug in Your Future?
It has been years since defined benefit pension plans were a component of an employee’s retirement assets. The traditional lifetime benefit that, at one time, represented retirement security for most retirees, is almost extinct within large corporate benefit programs. As a result, employees are left with 401k plans and the responsibility of funding and investing… Continue reading Traditional Health Insurance and Defined Benefit Plans: The New Fossils
The Early Retirement Reinsurance Program (ERRP) has encouraged corporations to keep post retirement health benefits intact by subsidizing part of the costs in an effort to reduce premiums or increase claim reimbursements for early retirees ages 55-64. The program was funded with $5 billion in 2010, and corporations, both profit and non-profit, were entitled to… Continue reading Early Retirement Health Care: Do Your ERRP Homework
Next week, the Supreme Court will begin to hear arguments on the constitutionality of the ACA, specifically the individual mandate that would require all Americans to purchase health insurance beginning in 2014. The mandate is highly contentious: 26 state governments and countless other groups are opposing the law. Yet there are many supporters, and although… Continue reading Supreme Court Health Care Decision: Does It Matter to Me?
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) is only a year old, and while many of its provisions aren’t effective until 2014, or like the CLASS act have been repealed, fortunately Medicare beneficiaries have already seen some savings. Whether these savings become more significant over time, however, remains to be seen. The most publicized ACA success is… Continue reading Hello Medicare: Looking Good!
Unless you’re fluent in healthcare, selecting health insurance at the workplace or on your own is and has been a difficult undertaking. Adding your spouse and children to the coverage certainly increases the complication factor. When it’s necessary to see a doctor, specialists, more visits to more doctors, fill prescriptions — how much does it… Continue reading New in 2012: Health Care as a Second Language
