California MRMIP and PCIP

Just wanted to post a quick note that I have added a separate page to my web site for MRMIP and PCIP in California. The information will continue to be available on the state programs page, but I didn't want to bog that page down with MRMIP and PCIP information as it is more a general information page.

By adding a special section for MRMIP and PCIP in California, I have the opportunity to expand the information concerning these risk pools and dedicate the necessary room on my site.

The MRMIP and PCIP California information including enrollment materials, rate information and plan summaries can be found here: California MRMIP & PCIP Plans.

Dave (davefluker.com)

Anthem Blue Cross CA Delays Premium Payment Change

Anthem Blue Cross recently stated that they would elminate month recurring credit card payments as a premium payment option on individual & family health plans.

Agents were recently notified that this change will be pushed out at least two months beyond the May 1 original deadline. Until futher notice, credit card premium payments will continue with Anthem Blue Cross CA. I will advise when and if the final date of change for this is actually set.

Dave (davefluker.com)

Blue Shield CA Cancels May 1 Rate Increase

Blue Shield of California has announced this evening that the health insurer is officially withdrawing the proposed May 1 rate increase. Blue Shield is further guaranteeing no further rate action for the remainder of 2011 on all CDI (CA Dept of Insurance) registered PPO plans (excluding HIPAA and Conversion). This affects approximately 340,000 California residents.

Blue Shield originally proposed a rate increase set for March 1, 2011 (The third since October , 2010). The carrier agreed to hold off 60 days on that rate increase to allow California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones time to have an audit of the rate increase performed. The audit found the rate increase to be in-line and justified.

Those currently enrolled on Blue Shield CDI-registered underwritten PPO plans (not including HIPAA or Conversion) will have no rate change at all until at least 1/1/12.

Read Blue Shield's Press Release here

Dave (davefluker.com)

Health Net CA Security Lapse Affects 1.9 Million

IBM, which manages Health Net's technology infrastructure, recently notified Health Net that it cannot find several computer hard drives. These drives store information on subscribers (past and current), employees and healthcare providers. The drives contain information related to approximately 1.9 million people.

Health Net has agreed to provide two years identity theft protection to those affected. You can get more information from Health Net by calling (855) 434-8081.

This is the second security lapse in the California health industry. Anthem Blue Cross had a breach which compromised some online information about a year ago. In both cases, the security breach was the fault of the third-party technology vendor, no the health insurer. Seems the people who are supposed to build and maintain the technology are lacking, at least in these two cases.

LA Times Article

Dave (davefluker.com)

Blue Shield CA Cumulative Rate Increase Could Exceed 85% For Some

The newest rate increase on Blue Shield CA/Blue Shield L&H individual and family plans in California is now set for May 1, 2011. It was originally scheduled for March 1, however it was delayed 60 days at the request of California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones.

This rate increase represents the third rate increase on Blue Shield family plans since October 2010. Blue Shield increased rates on 10/1, again on 1/1/11 to accommodate PPACA (ObamaCare) and now again on 5/1/11. For some these rate changes will have a cumulative increase of over 85% in just seven months.

Blue Shield, even with the rate increase projects losses in individual & family business in California of $20-$30 million in 2011. They lost $27 million in 2010. By contrast Anthem Blue Cross CA estimates losses as high as $100 million on the same business for 2011 with almost $70 million lost in 2010.

See the LA Times article by Duke Helfand.

Dave (davefluker.com)

3 Minutes of Brilliance (Jack LaLanne) You Can't Buy Health

Jack LaLanne, the 'godfather' of fitness, has been one of my personal idols since I was a child. This video from over 50 years ago is perhaps more pertinent today than it was then.



Dave (davefluker.com)

So How Are Democrats and Republicans Different?

Just how is the way Wisconsin Republicans have handled the political confrontation over worker rights different than the way Washington, DC Democrats handled last year's health care vote?With apologies in advance to Ezra for taking some liberties with his column yesterday evening in the Washington Post:What happened in Wisconsin [Washington DC] tonight [last March]By Ezra Klein [Bob Laszewski]

Fixing America's Health Care Reimbursement System

This post is authored by Brian Klepper and first appeared at Kaiser Health News:A tempest is brewing in physician circles over how doctors are paid. But calming it will require more than just the action of physicians. It will demand the attention and influence of businesses and patient advocates who, outside the health industrial complex, bear the brunt of the nation's skyrocketing health care

The Republicans Had Better Get Organized on Health Care

If the past week is any indication, the Republicans will have real trouble come 2012 trying to convince voters they have a plan to fix the American health care system.Last weekend, President Obama endorsed the Wyden-Brown bill that would give the states the opportunity, in 2014, to take their share of the almost $1 trillion the new health law collects and use it to craft an alternative health

Defined Contribution Health Care—The Conservatives' Silver Bullet

Conservatives are in a full court press these days telling us the answer to America’s out-of-control health care costs—and our fiscal crisis—is to move Medicare, Medicaid, and the tax code subsidy for private insurance to a defined contribution system.Instead of the federal government defining a benefit and then shouldering the cost of whatever that promise leads to (today’s defined benefit plan)