insurance
Governor interested in creating a CT high risk pool
Among other things, national health reform gives states an opportunity to create an insurance pool for people with pre-existing conditions. The law gives CT up to $50 million, possibly more, to implement a high-risk pool through 2014. At that point the law prohibits insurers from denying coverage to adults based on pre-existing conditions and it…
Read MoreHigh risk pools in federal health reform
Questions are surfacing about the federal reform bill’s provision to create a high risk pool will be implemented. The pool is meant to provide temporary coverage for people locked out of the insurance market until the bill’s pre-existing condition ban for adults becomes effective in 2014. People who need high risk pools include those timing…
Read MoreBuying insurance can be confusing
When I was at a friend’s house recently, his parents were in the process of choosing a health plan because his mother had just gotten a new job, and they were finally going to have health insurance through her employer. There were several plans to choose from, and all of them looked similar, except that…
Read MorePressure is building to improve health insurance premium regulation
Calls are increasing from advocates, legislators and public officials to better regulate health insurance rates in CT. A bill being heard today in the Insurance and Real Estate Committee, SB-194 An Act Concerning Rate Approvals for Individual Health Insurance Policies, would tighten the CT Insurance Dept. procedure for approving insurers’ proposed rate hikes. A recent…
Read MoreUnited Health Group profits up 30%
Rising unemployment, and consequent rising uninsurance, reduced United Health Group’s lucrative commercial enrollment by almost a million people compared to last year. Despite that, United posted rising profits for the third straight quarter. Raising premiums and a 12.5% increase in taxpayer-funded Medicare and Medicaid enrollment contributed to the profits. United Health Care (Americhoice) is one…
Read MoreInsurance Dept. approves insurer rate increases 85% of the time
A report by the CT’s Office of Legislative Research on rate increases approved for the five largest health insurance companies, found that the CT Insurance Dept. (CID) sided with insurers in 22 cases out of 26 since 2006. The average approved rate increase was 12%. This analysis covers a small number of health plan rate…
Read MoreInsurance Dept. approves United-Health Net acquisition
Not surprisingly, the CT Insurance Dept. (CID) has approved United Health’s proposal to purchase information on all Health Net members, past and present. Advocates and providers have raised grave concerns about the merger including privacy of sensitive health information, consolidation in CT’s already anti-competitive insurance market, and large increases in premiums for consumers and small…
Read MoreDecember web quiz – CT managed care plan performance
Test your knowledge about the performance of CT’s managed care plans. Take the December CT Health Policy web quiz.
Read MoreInsurance Dept. hearing on United Healthcare buying HealthNet
Monday’s CT Insurance Dept. (CID) hearing on the acquisition of Health Net’s license by United Healthcare was fascinating. If you didn’t hear anything about it, you’re not alone. It was not well publicized, there was little time to respond, and the hearing was not held at the Legislative Office Building, but in a windowless room,…
Read MoreCT Health Care Advocate’s Office has saved consumers $2.7 million so far this year
The Office of Health Care Advocate’s latest update reports saving state consumers $2.7 million in denied health care claims and services through September of this year, including $700,000 in the third quarter alone. Last year the office saved consumers over $5.2 million and are predicting an increase of over 50% in the number of cases…
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