Pre-Existing Condition Usage

Posted by larry on June 10th, 2011

Earlier this week Health and Human Services (HHS) secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced that enrollment in the government’s Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan (PCIP) had reached 18,000. Kathleen Sebelius had expected enrollment to be over 300,000. HHS missed by a factor of 16.

They now believe that people with pre-existing conditions cannot afford to pay the PCIP premiums. Keep in mind the the premiums set for PCIP are artificially low. They do not reflect the real cost of insuring someone who is going to file a claim for tens of thousands of dollars during the first year. Kathleen Sebelius announced that she would lower the current premium of $350 to $250.

This makes no sense at all. If a business is losing money at $350, why would it lower the premium to $250. This will just accelerate the rate of loss to the business. In this case, the business is the government. You and I as taxpayers are the ones who are going to have absorb the increased loses incurred by PCIP. You taxes will have to be raised to pay for your neighbor’s medical bills. I hope your neighbor comes over and thanks you.

What do you think?

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Shortage of Prescription Medicine

Posted by admin on May 16th, 2011
The world happens to be experiencing one of the largest prescription medicine shortages ever. Medical service providers in every region are also feeling the pressure. According to the write-up “Drug Lack Reaches Carolina Falls”  by Brett Crandall on LocalNews8.com, a shortage of more than 2 hundred medicine is an issue creating numerous sufferers plenty of anxiety.
 
Pharmacologist Clint Rohner from Asian Carolina Regional Clinic states he’s never seen any supply this low; nevertheless the good news is the fact that shelving is not totally empty. Hospitals through Carolina carry 1000s of medications covered by medical insurance.  Los Angeles, however,is a different story. This coming year, many of the medication people take prescription will be difficult to buy. They are showing priority for individuals to receive certain scarce medicines while some other sufferers are being given optional medicines to relieve the shortages.
 
There are 3 premiere factors behind the particular shortage according to Rohner. First, some manufacturers are dropping out of the industry due to the fact bigger organizations are takinge over. Second, there’s a lack of  availability of materials to produce the actual medicines. The third factor is that the FDA from time to time halts production of specific items for safety.
 
Modern health care practices has added to the concern as many pharmacists are merely maintaining 1-2 days worth of merchandise on the racks because drugs can easily be ordered next day. While this method functions good if you find a large inventory, that brings about issues with shortages as the product runs out that much more rapidly. Previously, several medicines had been stocked in office with over a  months supply, thus drug stores had been less vulnerable to shortages.
 
Shorter supplies imply greater prices.T hat means increased expenses to you and your personal health insurance organization. If ratescontinue go up, medical insurance costs will reflect this and also the complete health care program will become substantially higher priced which isn’t what anyone wants at this time.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 

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Why is it hard to get health insurance when you are already pregnant?

Posted by admin on December 28th, 2008

Insurance is designed to protect you against the huge cost of an unexpected illness. The key word here is “unexpected.” Buying insurance after you are already pregnant is like waiting to buy insurance for your home as the fire trucks start pouring water on the the blaze. The insurance companies would go broke in less than six months because no one would buy insurance until they were ready to file a claim. After the claim was paid, they would drop the insurance until they were ready to file the next claim.

In the case of pregnancy, women would buy insurance in the seventh month, pay a $200 premium for four months ($800), and after the baby was born healthy, drop the insurance. They would present the insurance company with the $10,000 bill for the baby. That is a guaranteed loss of $9,200 for the insurance company. On a personal note, if someone brought you $800 and asked you to swap it for $10,000 of your dollars, would you go to your bank and get your $10,000 to exchange for their $800?

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What is a “covered” service?

Posted by admin on May 8th, 2007

A “covered” service is one that is listed in the contract between the doctor or hospital and the insurance company. The contract specifies the agreed upon charge for each service covered by the contract. If the service is not listed on the contract, the doctor or hospital is free to charge any amount they wish. Being covered limits the amount that can be charged for a service.

For example, during an office visit, the doctor orders a chest X-ray. The clinic sends a bill for $127 for the chest X-ray. Because X-rays are a “covered” service, you are obligated to pay only the negotiated rate of $13. You are not responsible for the $114 difference.

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Generic Drug Popularity

Posted by admin on May 4th, 2007

The Pharmacy Benefit Management company Medco reported that 64.1% of all prescription drugs sold in 2008 were  generic. Generic drugs represent a great savings over brand name drugs to consumers.

Use of generic prescriptions when possible helps keep health insurance premiums low. It is important to use generics whenever possible because spending on prescription drugs is the fastest growing segment of overall health care costs. Health insurance premiums rise in direct proportion to the increase in health care costs.

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