The Debt Ceiling Debate—Some of These People Are Nuts

I don’t know about you but the politicians are starting to scare me with their inability to make progress in the federal debt limit discussions. Worse, is the apparent eagerness of some to actually take the government to default to make a political point.I know a lot of conservatives say missing the August 2 deadline isn’t a big deal but I think it is.The 2011 deficit is projected to be $1.6

Blue Shield CA New 15-Day Enrollment Rule

Mirroring Anthem Blue Cross' current requirement, Blue Shield of California announced (9 days after it went into effect,btw) yesterday to agents that effective June 1, all individual & family applicants start dates cannot be set less than 15 days prior to Blue Shield's receipt of the application.

For PPO plans, the start date must be 15 or more days after the receipt date. Example: Application received on June 10th soonest start date June 26th.

For HMO plans because they only have a 1st of the month start date, any application received by Blue Shield after the 15th of a month (earlier for February) would start the 1st of the following month. Example: Application submitted on June 10th soonest start date Jule 1st. Application submitted on June 20th, soonest start date would be August 1st.

Cheers!

Dave (www.davefluker.com)

Anthem Blue Cross CA Premium Payment Final Update

This is a final update for Anthem Blue Cross individual & family plans premium payment changes.

Effective August 1, 2011 Anthem will eliminate the following premium payment methods:

*Recurring Credit Card
*Bi-monthly Billing
*Quarterly Billing

There will be three premium payment options available to subscribers. All should have received information from Anthem by mail regarding these options. They will be:

*Monthly Direct Billing ($2 fee will be waived until further notice)
*Checking Accound Deduction (EFT) Monthly
*Ability to pay premiums via Anthem web site (anthem.com/ca)

The use of the web site will require creation of a login and there is no charge to pay premiums via the web site.

Cheers!
Dave (www.davefluker.com)

Inconvenient Facts for Both Republicans and Democrats—Neither Side’s Health Care Proposals Are Supported By Past Performance

I call your attention to Ezra Klein’s column in the Washington Post this morning.In it he cites data that has been out there for a long time but Ezra puts some perspective on it that never occurred to me before.Examining the Kaiser Family Foundation brief, “Health Care Spending in the United States and Selected OECD Countries” he points out, “Our government spends more [as a percentage of GDP] on