According to a recent report from the Kaiser Family Foundation, the least competitive market for health insurance in the United States is in Alabama. The Kaiser Family Foundation is a nonprofit health policy organization and released the report which showed that 86 percent of the policies in the individual market in Alabama were sold by Blue Cross Blue Shield. In the small group market in that state, that insurer sold 96 percent of the policies. Though the report did indicate that individual insurers hold the majority of the insurance markets…
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Florida to build an independent insurance exchange exclusively for small business
Amidst ongoing controversy surrounding the federal health care laws, Florida has opted to take its own approach on a mandated insurance marketplace. The law requires that all states have a working health insurance exchange in place by 2014. The exchanges are meant to be an online insurance marketplace where consumers can find affordable policies. Florida stood in opposition for the federal health care law since it was passed in 2010, and state legislators have expressed their discontent for the exchange initiative in the past. Now, the state is attempting to…
Read MoreEmployment doesn’t guarantee health insurance
A new U.S. Department of Labor-funded report has indicated that employer-sponsored health insurance is rapidly on the decline for millions of Americans. According to the researchers from Iowa Policy Project, the nonprofit organization that released the report, employees are losing the jobs that provide health insurance through the employer, and are finding new employment through contract or that is part-time, which makes it much more challenging to find affordable coverage. Co-author of the report, Noga O’Connor, said that it has become less common and more expensive to receive health insurance…
Read MoreCostly Ohio insurance exchange may have to team with the federal government
Independent IT consultants in Ohio were tasked with calculating the cost of an insurance exchange in the state earlier this year. The state is required by federal law to establish an exchange by 2014 in an effort to streamline health insurance. The undertaking is in no way small, as a great deal of digital infrastructure must first be made, the price of which may be daunting. According to the state’s consultants, the technology alone will cost $63 million. The sum is quite high when compounded by the additional expensive associated…
Read MoreStudy shows cost for employees for health insurance is set to rise
The findings of an Aon Hewitt study are showing that the average per-employee cost for health insurance will increase beyond the $10,000 mark in 2012, regardless of the fact that costs are rising more slowly than the current 2011 rate of 7.5 percent. The rate for healthcare premiums is expected to increase by 7 percent, but the actual cost of premiums for each employee is forecasted to be over $10,400. When compared to the 2010 figure of less than $9,800, the 2012 is notably higher. Workers will be responsible for…
Read MoreAnother health insurance rate hike expected by next year
Mercer has released the results of its annual survey which have indicated that there will be an increase of 5.4 percent to employee health care benefit costs in 2012. Though the forecasted increase in health insurance rates will be the smallest one that has occurred in the last 15 years, it should still be noted that this increase is remarkably higher than salary growth and the inflation rate, the latter of which was at 3.9 percent. The employers who participated in the Mercer survey stated that they have been attempting…
Read MoreReport makes recommendation for healthcare exchange regulations in Maine
A report laying out the major element of the Maine health insurance reform – its healthcare exchange – has been presented to the state legislative committee and is being received with dissatisfaction from Democrats. Senator Joseph Brannigan (D-Portland) said that upon receipt of the report, he and the other Insurance and Financial Services Committee members are disappointed. He explained that “It just doesn’t seem friendly and inviting as a marketplace for businesses and people shopping for insurance.” The Affordable Care Act, which is the heart of the overhaul of the…
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