This month, the U.S. Supreme Court will begin litigation on the controversial Affordable Care Act. The federal law seeks to radically change the structure of the country’s health care industry and introduces new insurance regulations that are aimed at benefiting consumers. The Act was signed into law in 2010 and has since been a point of contention for political leaders and legislators throughout the U.S. Many states have backed the Affordable Care Act, but others have filed lawsuits against the federal government, accusing the law of being unconstitutional. The Supreme…
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Health insurance analysis suggests that insurance may be completely unaffordable by 2031
Two leading medical professionals have published a new analysis of the future of health insurance in the latest issue of Annals of Family Medicine. Richard A. Young and Jennifer E. Devoe have taken a look at the Affordable Care Act and how it will affect the health insurance industry from when it is fully enacted in 2014 to the state of the industry in 2037. The study assumes that the federal health care law is successful in its goal of lowering health insurance premiums. Despite this supposed success, the study…
Read MoreAdding supplemental dental insurance to Medicare coverage
eHealth, Inc. subsidiary, PlanPrescriber, has now published a report for beneficiaries of Medicare who are looking to purchase additional stand-alone insurance that covers dental. Part A and B of Medicare (also known as the Original program) does not include dental in its coverage. Therefore, if a beneficiary of Medicare experiences a medical emergency where their teeth need care, the original plan might or might not provide coverage for the emergency, depending on who has provided the care. Furthermore, basic Medicare coverage does not provide the type of dental coverage that…
Read MoreGrowing number of young adults in Minnesota have health insurance coverage
The Minnesota and Massachusetts health insurance coverage rates are currently drawing attention as they have achieved rates of 98 percent and officials try to determine whether or not they have reached their highest possible levels. A Minnesota survey published in an article called “Many Minnesotans Still Without Insurance” has indicated that the segment of people within the state who are currently uninsured has not entirely returned to the levels that had been reached by the end of 2009. The uninsured rate last year had kept stable at 9.1 percent, regardless…
Read More91% of Texans to be insured by 2014, thanks to the Affordable Care Act
The Texas Medicaid Director, Billy Millwee, spoke to the House Public Health and Insurance committees this week regarding the Affordable Care Act. The director has been tracking the trends and effects that the federal health care law has birthed in the state and has come to a promising conclusion. Currently, 74% of the state’s residents have some form of health insurance coverage. Millwee claims that when the Affordable Care Act is fully enacted in 2014, this will jump to 91%. By that time, only 2.3 million Texans will have no…
Read MoreDental problems force uninsured Tennessee residents into ERs
A report issued by The Pew Center on the States has shown that residents of Tennessee suffering from toothaches and other dental problems are finding themselves in hospital emergency rooms as many of them cannot afford preventive care and are not covered by dental insurance. Residents of that state have made over 55,000 visits to emergency rooms since 2009 due to issues with their teeth or because of jaw disorders. Adults do not receive dental coverage by TennCare, and many employers within Tennessee do not include dental coverage in their…
Read MoreEmployees look to cancer insurance to fill the gap left by employers’ high deductible health coverage
Employers in California, as well as across the country, are attempting to cut the costs… associated with the skyrocketing medical insurance premiums by choosing higher deductible health coverage that shifts some of the expense to the employees. In response, many of those employees are looking to supplemental health plans like cancer insurance as a way to fill in the gaps that are being left behind by that employer sponsored insurance. Though these efforts were not very common as recently as two years ago, they are increasingly becoming the norm. That…
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