Tag: insurance

Buying Your Own Health Insurance? Here’s the Company Slashing Your Bill.

Posted on by Judith E. Ashton

Being your own boss can be a dream come true. However, professional independence comes with its own harsh realities. One aspect many people don’t immediately consider is health insurance. Without a corporate job managing coverage for you, finding the right plan at the best price can be complicated and expensive.



Courtesy of Catch

But it doesn’t have to be — not even for time-crunched solopreneurs. one company, Catchis trying to simplify health insurance and other benefits for the self-employed, making it easy to navigate and save money.

Founded in 2018, Catch is a personal payroll and benefits platform that helps you take care of your taxes, retirement, and health insurance. Freelancers and the self-employed can use Catch’s app to automatically track, trace, and manage their income as well as get the lowest price on a current or new health insurance plan.

Focus on what you do best.

Better still, Catch has a new tool called Premium Slasher, designed specifically to get savings for people who buy their own insurance. Catch will analyze your current plan and search the billions of dollars of available government tax credits to lower your monthly premiums. The process takes about two minutes, according to the company. All you need to do is make sure your income estimates, location, and family size are up-to-date. Catch does the rest for you.

Best of all, it’s free. How is that possible? “Catch makes money as an insurance broker, earning commissions from insurance carriers,” explains Catch’s CEO and co-founder, Kristen Anderson. “This means Catch can offer its customers Personal Payroll and Premium Slasher for free.”

Anderson adds, “Most of us don’t want to spend our time figuring out benefits. Freelancers and solopreneurs often have a vision that’s centered around improving their craft and increasing their

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It’s open enrollment season. Here’s how to find the right health insurance : NPR

Posted on by Judith E. Ashton
An illustration of three candy jars. The first jar on the left is locked shut and reads "HMO," the jar in the middle has the lid cracked and reads "PPO," and the last jar is a candy machine that requires a coin to be inserted to release a piece of candy.
An illustration of three candy jars. The first jar on the left is locked shut and reads "HMO," the jar in the middle has the lid cracked and reads "PPO," and the last jar is a candy machine that requires a coin to be inserted to release a piece of candy.

HMOs, PPOs, FSAs – OMG!

Open enrollment season is upon us, and it’s time to sign up for a health insurance plan for the next calendar year. But between the alphabet soup of acronyms and all those daunting data tables, it can be hard to figure out which plan to choose.

While we know this task isn’t as exciting as spooky szn or pumpkin-spiced everything, it’s important for your health (and will serve you a lot longer than that polyester Halloween costume).

The good news: Life Kit has expert advice to help take the scary out of this process. Here’s a cheat sheet of what to keep in mind as you make a decision.

Read your plan’s summary of benefits

The first step is to know what’s in your health insurance plan, says Tasha Carter, the insurance consumer advocate for the state of Florida. “Many consumers fail to take advantage of the benefits that are offered by their health insurance policy simply because they don’t know they exist – or even worse, they end up paying out of pocket for expenses that may have been covered.”

So, even though you’ve had the same plan for years, take a few moments to look over your plan’s latest summary of benefits. Health insurance companies are required to provide a summary of benefits and coverage written in simple language. If you don’t get it in the mail at the beginning of the year, log on to your health insurance website or call the number on the back of your insurance card and ask for it.

“Oftentimes, insurance companies make changes to benefits, so you want to make sure you understand what those changes are and how they may impact you” and your health, Carter says. Listen to our episode on how to

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How universal health insurance will be made affordable to all

Posted on by Judith E. Ashton

Dar es Salaam. The government yesterday explained three ways on how it would make Universal Health Insurance (UHI) affordable to poor households.

Briefing journalists here in the city, Health minister Ummy Mwalimu said the government would use the Tanzania Social Action Fund (Tasaf) system, payment in installments and household contributions.

After a long wait, eventually the government last Friday tabled the UHI Bill 2022 in Parliament providing compulsory conditions for people to have registered in insurance schemes in order to secure several social services.

Ms Mwalimu said the contributions should at least be made four times a year, instead of demanding beneficiaries to make entire payment in one go.

“We will come up with standard benefit packages,” said the minister. The contribution to be unveiled later on, will be reasonable. The government’s goal is to cut the burden on citizens,” she insisted.

Ms Mwalimu allayed fears over rumors that force would be applied to make Tanzanians comply with the UHI.

“No one will be fined or jailed for not having health insurance,” said the minister.

Instead of using this kind of approach, Ms Mwalimu said, for one to get some services, it would be compulsory for one to have a health insurance cover.

According to Section 32(a)(h) of the Bill, it will be compulsory for citizens to have health insurance whenever seeking driving license, motor vehicles insurance and admitting children for advanced secondary education or colleges.

Other services that will also be issued after producing evidence of being enrolled in health insurance schemes are provision of travel document (passport), Taxpayers Identification Number (TIN), business license, visa, simcard registration and provision of national identification card (ID).

“The lesson that we have drawn from Ghana, Rwanda and Ethiopia is that for citizens to join the Universal Health Insurance, we must attach it

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Navarro: Delawareans have more choices in 2023 Health Insurance Marketplace | Delaware

Posted on by Judith E. Ashton

(The Center Square) – Health officials in The First State are hoping increased competition within the insurance market will drive down prices in the coming years.

Delaware announced its 2023 rates for health, dental, and small group insurance plans, Insurance Commissioner Trinidad Navarro said. It is anticipated that steps taken in the Inflation Reduction Act and the state’s strong 2022 enrollment and expansion of the Health Insurance Marketplace will curtail consumer impact.

“This year, Delaware consumers have more carriers and plans to choose from than ever before, so they can find an affordable plan that meets their needs,” Navarro said in a release. “We remain optimistic that this increased competition will lead to lower rates and higher care quality over time. Delawareans are facing rising costs in nearly every area of ​​life and making difficult sacrifices to afford necessities – but let me be clear, no matter the financial cost, we cannot afford to sacrifice our health. We will continue to work to ensure that coverage is affordable and accessible to all residents.”

According to the release, a pair of new health insurance companies will be available this year. Plans range between $325 to $505 for those age 21 and over who are nontobacco users across nine Aetna CVS Health plan options, and $283 to $402 through AmeriHealth Carita in four different plans.

Highmark Blue Shield, according to the release, plans a 5.5% average hike increase for 17 plans that will cost between $249 to $618. Plans will also feature a catastrophic event option. In addition, the average rates for Highmark have decreased around 10% over the last few years.

According to the release, 30 plans will be made available to state residents, and open enrollment will be held from Nov. 1 through Jan. 15.

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Health insurance start-up ExtrasJar completes seed round funding

Posted on by Judith E. Ashton

Adrian Bunter, management committee member at Sydney Angels and executive director at Venture Advisory, said ExtrasJar stood out as one of the best companies he had seen among over 2,000 start-up investment opportunities over the last two years.

“I was very excited to lead the Sydney Angels syndicate, [which] led the investment into ExtrasJar this year. [John Connor] and [Reece Frazier] are fantastic founders, and we are thrilled to be part of ExtrasJar in shaking up the insurance industry. We are expecting big things!”

Read more: Advisr completes seed investment round for international growth

ExtrasJar focuses on health insurance extras cover, which it believes to be one of the “biggest shams in the industry”.

Connor, a senior insurance manager with more than 20 years of experience in the industry’s biggest players, claims that the 12.5 million Australians who take out “extras cover” are being scammed because only $5.6 billion of the $12 billion spent on extras insurance was given back in benefits. Furthermore, he believes that private hospital cover can be reduced by up to 40% without impacting the policyholder’s benefits.

“My career has [been spent] working as a senior actuary for Australia’s biggest banks and insurance companies – so I know how much money is being taken from hardworking Australians – and it’s sickening,” he said. “On average, Australians are losing more than half of their health insurance extras. That’s approximately $514 each per year and over $10,280 over 20 years.

“Let me paint you a picture. I love running, and so far, my body hasn’t needed physio. Yet with my previous health insurance, I have been paying extras cover ‘just in case’ for the past 10 years. If I sustained my first knee injury this year, I could only claim up to $200 on

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Just 8% of Americans Lack Health Insurance, a Record Low | Madison.com Health, Sports Health & Fitness

Posted on by Judith E. Ashton

Cara Murez

WEDNESDAY, Aug. 3, 2022 (HealthDay News) — The number of Americans without health insurance continues to drop, reaching 8% in 2022 — a record low.

That leaves about 26 million people living in America without health insurance.

The announcement was made Tuesday by the US Department of Health and Human Services.

“Every American has the right to the peace of mind that comes with access to affordable, quality health care,” President Joe Biden said in a HHS statement, according to the Associated Press.

The significant decline began last year, helped by the $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package approved by Biden and Congress. Federal subsidies for people buying private insurance through the Affordable Care Act (ACA) helped more people afford coverage, driving the percentage of uninsured folks down to just under 9% in 2021.

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Also, premiums and out-of-pocket expenses were set at lower rates for new and returning customers.

Those numbers could improve again if Congress passes the Democrats’ latest proposal, which would provide money for climate and health care, including extending federal subsidies for health insurance.

As part of their 725-page package, Democrats have proposed spending $64 billion to extend those price breaks for three more years, the AP reported.

Before last year’s decline, the rate of uninsured Americans was in double digits for decades, though it began dropping after the ACA was enacted in 2010. The ACA expanded Medicaid and offered health insurance to people who didn’t have health plans through their jobs.

About 2% of children in the United States are among those who remain uninsured.

“We know that access to quality, affordable health care is key to healthier lives, economic security and peace of mind,” HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra said in a statement.

Healthcare.gov has more on health-care-law-protections/rights-and-protections/”

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Private Health Insurance Providers Pay Over Twice What Medicare Pays

Posted on by Judith E. Ashton

RAND Corporation recently released a report on medical spending in 2020 in which they found that private insurance companies paid, on average, 224% of what Medicare would have paid.

The discrepancy varied from 175% in Arkansas, Hawaii, and Washington to 310% in Florida, South Carolina, and West Virginia. And while this certainly doesn’t appear fair to insurance providers, who then pass those higher payments to customers in the form of increased premiums, there isn’t an easy solution.

Negotiating for Lower Agreed Payments

It may seem that the solution would be for health insurance providers to negotiate lower payments for services with healthcare providers and hospital systems. But it’s not that easy because providers and hospitals depend on the high payments they get from insurance companies.

Another seems potential solution is Medicare for all, but hospitals would close down or find it impossible to find staffing if they lost their revenue from private insurers.

The Kaiser Family Foundation calculated that “limiting private insurance reimbursement to Medicare rates would reduce health spending by about $350 billion in 2021.” And while that looks good for insurance companies, it doesn’t look for hospitals and care providers.

So, insurance providers can’t expect to find allies in medical providers if they try to lower their payments to Medicare levels.

Health Insurance Providers Partnering With Large Employers

According to Clearsurance.com, 56% of employers offer health-insurance”group health insuranceso perhaps insurance providers can work with lobbying groups from the large companies they insure to help negotiate lower accepted reimbursements from hospitals and health systems, enabling insurance providers to lower premiums.

Private companies would benefit from negotiating lower premiums because their benefits package would become more attractive to employees. In addition, if they supplement employee premiums, their contributions would decrease. And it would be a win

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Fired-up NJ Senate President calls opposition to costly auto insurance plan ‘nonsense’

Posted on by Judith E. Ashton

New Jersey’s top lawmaker came out swinging in fierce defense of his legislation that could force more than 1 million people in the state to pay more for car insurance each year.

Senate President Nicholas Scutari on Monday defended the bill that would hike the minimum amount of liability insurance in the Garden State from its current $15,000 coverage to $25,000 beginning in 2023, and a minimum of $35,000 starting in 2026. He says it’s long overdue to protect victims of crashes.

“This is all nonsense,” said Scutari, D-Union, during a Senate committee hearing, arguing the cost to drive in the state would not immediately increase.

“(Insurers) cannot raise rates for a minimum of three and a half years. They cannot substantiate a raise in rates when we go to $25,000 in coverage. The industry cannot substantiate it. It is an impossibility. The Department of Banking and Insurance will not allow it,” he said.

“The people of New Jersey need this Legislature to protect them from themselves because we tell them what they need to get, and that’s what they get.”

He added taxpayers are the ones who are stuck with the costs to “subsidize unpaid medical bills” and “everything that the insurance industry doesn’t cover” in the minimum policy.

“This is insane,” he said.

Scutari’s impassioned defense of the bill (S481) came moments after people urged legislators not to support the bill.

“Why the urgency?” John Harmon, president and CEO of the African American Chamber of Commerce of New Jersey, asked. “Could we not pull this back and do some impact studies?”

Harmon tested at the committee hearing Monday and spoke to NJ Advance Media Tuesday. He said he was surprised to see Scutari appear briefly at the event to “whip the votes” and then disappear moments

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Ethics Consult: Cut Health Insurance for Risky Activities? MD/JD Weights In

Posted on by Judith E. Ashton

Welcome to Ethics Consult — an opportunity to discuss, debate (respectfully), and learn together. We select an ethical dilemma from a true, but anonymized, patient care case, and then we provide an expert’s commentary.

Last week, you voted on whether it’s ethical for the government to cut health insurance for risky activities.

Cut health insurance for risky activities?

Yes: 63%

No: 37%

And now, bioethicist Jacob M. Appel, MD, JD, weighs in.

Life insurers generally charge a premium for high-risk behaviors. According to a 2013 article in US News & World Report, hunters pay an additional $500 annual premium, and rock climbers pay $1,500 extra; scuba diving and skydiving can add $2,500 to one’s rates. Health insurers do not always dig as deeply into the personal behavior of policyholders, but some refuse to cover individuals engaged in dangerous activities. In 2006, one major Illinois corporation reportedly sent letters to its employees informing them that any motorcycle-related injuries would result in immediate termination of their health insurance. In contrast, Medicare and Medicaid usually cover all injuries of their clients, regardless of the origins of those injuries.

The primary reason that public health-insurance entities do not exclude these risk-takers is that health insurance no longer functions as insurance — at least, not in the traditional sense. As political historian Edward N. Beiser observed in the article “The Emperor’s New Scrubs” (1994), “health insurance” is a misnomer. The underlying principle behind traditional insurance is the distribution or “pooling” of risk. Although the odds of my house burning down are quite low, the odds of somebody’s home catching fire are reasonably high, and fire insurance evenly distributes the cost of this burden. Everyone pays in; a few unfortunate victims receive compensation. In contrast, the vast majority of Americans will eventually experience

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