Lack of Insurance Leaves Statues Naked
September 6, 2008
Blue Shield of California is illustrating the vulnerability of lack of insurance in a unique manner. People feel like they are missing something important when they don’t have insurance and Blue Shield of California is depicting this by putting up naked statues. The bronze statues will soon be unveiled in an effort to bring to light the plight of almost 7 million Californians who do not have health insurance.
The statues numbering about 100 will be seen striking pensive poses in South California in shopping centers. A fig leaf will cover up some parts of the statues, most likely. Although the statues will make some people uncomfortable, that is perhaps the objective according to CEO Bruce Bodaken who reminds us of the 800,000 children in California without health insurance.
Massachusetts shows the way
August 31, 2008
The Massachusetts health program seems to be showing its success. The ranks of the uninsured have dropped and now Massachusetts has the lowest rate of uninsured people in the nation. People going to emergency rooms for care has fallen in the state as well. Due to the popularity of the program, the state has had to look out for newer revenue sources. The way the program has shown success over the first 21 months makes it seem like this plan could become a universal health care model.
No Health Insurance For 47.5 million in U.S.
August 29, 2008
According to the US Census Bureau, 45.7 mn Americans had no health insurance in 2007. The good news is that this figure is lower than the similar figure for 2006. In 2006 there were 1.3 mn more uninsured American.
According to the announcement 8.1 mn US kids did not have any kind of health insurance in 2007. However this was 600,000 less than the number of uninsured children in the previous year. So that is a bit of good news here.
People Left Without Insurance Due To Errors In Boston
August 24, 2008
The Boston state’s universal healthcare system has ended healthcare for tens of thousands of people since the start of the year. This is according to state enrollment figures. Sometimes patients were terminated because of their own mistakes. In other cases the errors were due to the state.
These figures do not reveal how many people reenrolled later. The number of wrongfully terminated people has not been tracked either. According to community advocates and lawyers, a steady stream of enrollees’ insurance was cancelled unilaterally with no fault from them.
The State Of Childrens Health Insurance
August 16, 2008
According to a report by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, uninsured kids are much more likely to have gone to a doctor than uninsured kids. Of the insured kids about 60 percent are insured by private programs and the rest under public programs like Medicaid and SCHIP. According to the report 41 percent of kids without health insurance missed care and only 10 percent of those children insured under public health programs missed health care.
Health Care Being Put Aside To Save Money
August 15, 2008
Americans seem to be cutting down on health care costs to save money. Another symptom of a weakening economy. Whether the weakening economy helps or harms health is a matter of debate. When money is tight people give up cigarettes and slow down on drinks. This keeps them healthier.
Medical Needs Weigh Heavy on US Healthcare system
August 9, 2008
The health care crisis in the US is worsening by the day. US citizens are making unprecedented demands on the healthcare system with over a billion visits a year to clinics, doctor’s offices and emergency rooms. Statistics released by the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention show the 1.1 billion visits for medical care in 2006, measured up to an average of four visits per person every year.
The nation’s population has grown by eleven percent from 1996 to 2006, while the hospital and doctor visits have risen by twenty-six percent. Even more surprising is the rapid rise in Emergency room visits. ERs all across the nation have recorded an average of 227 patients per minute. The increase in the country’s aged population is being cited as the reason for the increase in hospital and doctor visits by the CDC. As compared to younger people, the old need more care and they are utilizing health care more now than ever in the past.
US: Millions of Adult Chronic Patients still Uninsured.
August 7, 2008
In the August 15th edition of the Annals of Internal Medicine, a study has been published that reveals that one out of every three uninsured US citizens has a chronic ailment and yet is not receiving the requisite medical care. Even though the study was not entirely focused on the health consequences of absence of insurance and inaccessibility to health care, one can clearly imagine the impact these will have, as the authors of the report were keen to point out.
11.4 million Americans suffer from minimum one chronic illness and do not even have insurance to pay for the needed medical care. This was said by Dr. Steffie Woolhandler, a doctor, an associate professor of medicine at Harvard University and also the co-author of this study. What needs to be understood is that these illnesses can very much be controlled. With modern day therapies, the patients can be “kept out of trouble” as Dr. Andrew P. Wilper said.
USA Today Reports!
August 1, 2008
In a recent report by USA Today, 18 million U.S. residents claim to have individual health insurance. While this is great for a few, it is fraught with complexities for many others. The report said that the two presidential candidates, Sen. Barrack Obama and Sen. John McCain are aiming to improve conditions for those people who purchase their own coverage.
According to the USA Today report, if the problem in the individual market is fixed then it could definitely go a long way in increasing the span of health coverage in U.S.A. Experts working on the report cited three key issues that concern the individual health insurance market: the coverage costs, canceling of health coverage by health insurers in many states and the lack of coverage for applicants with pre-existing medical conditions.
Massachusetts: Portals to Shop for Health Insurance plans
July 31, 2008
In the state of Massachusetts, it is illegal not to have health insurance. The citizens face a tax penalty of $912 in case they don’t acquire health insurance. To help citizens, the state aids them in the selection process through a special web portal. The insurance mandate was passed by the state legislature in April of 2006 with an effective date of July 2007. By May 2007, the state needed to begin helping citizens in the insurance shopping process. This was needed to help citizens complete their important paperwork before the July deadline. Read more
Health Insurance Survey launched by County Chamber
July 27, 2008
In order to find out subscriber preferences when selecting an insurance plan, the Chautauqua County Chamber of Commerce Insurance Committee has launched a health insurance survey. The survey is directed towards those businesses that are currently enrolled in the Chamber’s insurance program and towards those that are eligible to enroll.
The survey was launched on July 17th and is accessible through August 15th. It aims to analyze subscriber preferences in relation to coverage options, co pay amounts, provider preferences, plan design and open enrollment. Chamber members currently enrolled and those with fifty or lesser employees who are eligible to enroll are free to participate in the survey. Erin Andersen, insurance coordinator for the Chamber said that the survey will be helpful in gaining input directly from those people for whom the insurance program is intended. The feedback received will go a long way in coming up with an insurance plan that meets the needs of both employers and employees.
Single-Payer Health Care receives Backing from U.S. Mayors!
July 24, 2008
On June 23rd, the U.S. Conference of Mayors adopted a resolution that endorses HR 676 which is the National Health Insurance Act. Introduced by Rep. John Conyers, the bill entails expansion of the Medicare system to envelope everyone in the country under a national single-payer health insurance system. This resolution of the mayors’ is being seen as a huge leap forward in the on-going battle for national health care. Around 1,139 American cities which have a population of 30,000 or more had their mayors presiding at this conference.
Sheila Dixon, the mayor of Baltimore said that this resolution carries enormous weight as unlike elected leaders; the mayors of cities are closer to their people at the grass root level. Citizens who had gathered at the conference showed much appreciation for this step taken by their mayors. Read more
Identity, Insurance and Identity Theft
June 28, 2008
The latest fraud scam to hit the US is of medical-identity theft. If you are thinking as to how that is possible, the answer is so simple that it is literally staring you in the face but yet you are unaware of it. Recent studies show that a simple thing like a stolen or lost health insurance card and divulging of seemingly harmless personal information can lead to medical-identity theft.
Often involved in this scam are the workers in the health-care industry who have access to personal files of patients and are readily selling them off to identity-theft rings. The mechanism behind is simple; the thief assumes your identity and gets his medical bills accounted in your name. Ordinary citizens are unaware of this scheming till they realize that they have hit their insurance cap and that too for illnesses they never had. A more fatal revelation can come when the doctor administers treatment to you based on your imposter’s personal records, including his allergies and blood-type.
Old maladies, New solutions
June 24, 2008
In an extremely ‘welcome’ development, insurance policy holders will be relieved to know that from now on their pre-existing diseases will be covered under the policy after a time period of four years.
This much needed regulation comes after a long history of disputes between the insurance agencies and policy holders as regards what actually qualifies as a ‘pre-existing’ disease. The General Insurance Council has now come up with a standard definition of a pre-existing disease that will be put into effect starting this month. Read more
The Insured, The Uninsured and the Underinsured
June 20, 2008
In the latest issue of the Health Affairs journal, a study reveals that in the US about 25 million people belonging to the 19 to 64 age group in 2007 were underinsured. This has increased since 2003 when there were 16 million underinsured people.
The authors of the study give the definition of “underinsured” as pertaining to those people who earn more than $40, 000, have health insurance but still end up spending about 10 percent of their every day income on immediate pocket medical expenses. The percentage lowers to 5 percent in case of those earning below $40,000.
