Vermont lawmakers are expected to determine how the state will build its own health insurance exchange system by the end of this year. The state has been sluggish in its efforts to build an exchange due to some uncertainty and lack of guidance from the federal government. The Department of Health and Human Services, the agency that oversees the exchange effort throughout the country, has granted states with enough flexibility to establish an exchange in a way they see fit. Vermont’s slow pace may put the exchange effort at risk…
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Report shows that employees in California will be paying more for their health insurance coverage
InstantHealthInsuranceQuotes.com, a premium aggregation website, has released a new report that shows how employees in California are beginning to pay more for their insurance coverage. The report suggests that employers are trickling down the cost of coverage to their employees in an attempt to offset the cost of insurance. This is largely due to the rate at which health insurance premiums are rising. Some employers claim that rates are rising to levels that they can no longer support without more help from workers. The company’s report is based on a…
Read MoreSurvey shows workers often misinformed about costs of employer health insurance
A national survey conducted for eHealthInsurance between the months of September and October 2011, by Kelton Research, has shown that only 47 percent of participants who had employer-sponsored coverage are capable of stating with confidence the amount of their health insurance premiums that is covered by their salary and how much is paid by the employer. The survey also showed that 35 percent of the respondents who had employer-sponsored coverage were able to state how much the annual deductible for their plan was, and only 33 percent of the participants…
Read MoreChicago state employees may see their health insurance contracts extended as legislators battle over authority
Public employees and retirees in Chicago may have their temporary health insurance plans extended a full year, pending the results of a legislative panel. Lawmakers will convene on August 16 to determine whether insurance coverage for state employees should be extended. The plans were initially issued by the state government to provide state employees with health care while legislative disputes raged on, threatening to leave them without any coverage. As the political disputes erupted, public employers were told that their insurance plans would continue for another 90 days while lawmakers…
Read MoreWashington state school employees need insurance make-over
A new report from the Auditor’s Office of Washington says that the insurance for the state’s school employees should be streamlined so that it will be more fair and cost effective. The state auditor, Brian Sonntag, said that the system is overly complex. More than 1,000 different funds pay for 200 coverage plans offered by only 10 insurers. In the current system, some employees pay no premiums while others pay over $500 a month and there is little to differentiate the two. The cost of health benefits for 100,000 school…
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