|
InsuranceSpecialists Blog your source for insurance information
|
 Subscribe RSS Feed
Comments Feed
|
As health care remains a hot-button issue in our government and with our current crop of political candidates, it’s interesting to look at health care around the world. Here’s a video – admittedly three years old – which looks at the French health care system, which is often considered the best in the world.
Tags: France, friday filmstrips, health insurance
In these tough economic times, many corporations are eliminating regular vision care coverage from their benefits plans, and offering their employees membership in VSP – the vision service plan – instead. This video talks about VSP, how it works, and why eye care is important.
Tags: friday filmstrips, health insurance, video, vision care, vsp
Maybe it’s a sign of troubling times in general, or maybe it’s a direct response to the way health insurance costs have risen over the past several years, but apparently the number of American adults who are praying about their health issues rose 36 percent from 199 to 2007.
This information comes from a study recently published by the American Psychological Association. The researchers involved looked at data from the Centers for Disease Control and Preventions’ National Health Interview surveys for the years 1999, 2002, and 2007, and focused mainly on comparing the results of the latter two surveys which included responses from 30,080 adults from 44,540 households in 2002 and 23,393 adults from 40,377 households in 2007.
According to the study’s lead author, Amy Wachholtz, PhD, from the University of Massachusetts medical School, “The United States did have an increase in worship attendance across multiple religious faiths immediately after the 9/11 attack, but that has not stayed elevated. However, people continued to use informal and private spiritual practices such as prayer. There is also a greater public awareness of Buddhist-based mindfulness practices that can include prayerful meditation, which individuals may also be using to address a variety of health concerns.”
Increased prayer was noted in people whose health dramatically declined as well as those whose health significantly improved, suggesting that it was a method of coping with the changing circumstances of their health, according to the study.
A greater amount of prayer was noted in most demographic groups, though those with higher incomes were less likely to pray about their health than those with lower incomes. The most likely people to pray about health conditions were the well-educated, women, and African-Americans.
However, while prayer was used by people with good incomes and decent medical insurance, Wachholtz pointed out that, “People are not exchanging health insurance for prayer.”
Last week, State Farm insurance announced a significant change in their corporate policy. The company will be extending health care coverage and other benefits to the same-sex partners of its agents, agency staff members, employees, and retirees, so long as they’re in legally recognized relationships.
Such benefits are already offered to employees and their partners in ten jurisdictions where the company operates, but State Farm spokesperson Phil Supple said that the programs will go nationwide as of June 1st, 2011. Supple added that if existing ratios are accurate, the cost of doing so won’t be at all significant.
What brought on this decision? It stems from a change in the laws in State Farm’s home state of Illinois which requires benefits be extended to partners who have civil unions. Even though only two of the insurer’s plans would be subject to the new law, Suppler said, it was decided to extend benefits to all plans and employees (etc.) nationwide in order to be “fair and consistent.” Across the United States, the company has about 68,000 employees and 18,000 agents.
Employees and their partners must be in legally recognized relationships under the laws of the states where they reside, including civil unions, same-sex marriages, and domestic partnerships, in order for the partners to receive benefits, which include medical, dental, vision, life, long-term care, and accidental death and dismemberment coverage.
Another major insurer, Allstate Corp, also offers benefits to same-sex partners (as well as some non-traditional opposite-sex partners who are in document-able exclusive, committed relationships), with such caveats as a demonstrated co-responsibility for each other’s welfare and financial obligations, a shared primary residence, legal adulthood, and no relationships or marriages outside the partnership.
Benefits for Allstate employees include medical, dental, vision, and long-term care coverage, as well as flexible spending accounts.
Tags: allstate, Illinois, same-sex partnerships, State Farm
Governor Bobby Jindal and the state legislature in Louisiana have decided to opt out of the creation of a state insurance exchange as outlined in the federal health insurance overhaul, choosing to let the federal government administer the program.
Bruce Greenstein, Secretary of the State Department of Health and Hospitals, has confirmed this decision, and said that with it, Lousiana has become the second state to so decide.
The exchanges are insurance markets meant to allow consumers to choose a subsidized private insurance plan from a range of coverage options and levels. The deadline to have them all up and running, whether they’re run by the states or by the feds, is 2014.
Greenstein believes that federal officials haven’t provided enough detail about how the exchanges should be run. He also said he thinks insurance premiums will go up under the new system, and if that happens he doesn’t want the state government to take the blame.
The state of Oklahoma has enacted a new law protecting health care professionals who volunteer at school athletic events from being sued, but it’s author, State Representative Joe Dorman, wants more schools to take advantage of it, explainging that House Bill 1658 will protect medical volunteers under the Good Samaritan Act.
In a statement to the press, Dorman (D – Rush Springs) said, “I have been concerned about the lack of immediate medical care available to young athletes in our state ever since the death of Justin Barney, a Rush Springs football player who died of a head injury and didn’t get the immediate care that might have made the difference. I urge all Oklahoma schools to take advantage of this new law and ask a local doctor or other health care professional to be on hand at school sporting events.”
According to the Oklahoma Athletic Trainers Association, roughly 25% of student athletes across the state will either miss practice or competition due to head injuries. Numbers from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there are more than 3.9 million concussions caused by sports and recreation across the country every year.
Dorman pointed to a football player in Portland, OR, who was brought back to life by a cardiac nurse who happened to be nearby when he suffered a heart attack on the playing field. “She had not been recruited as a volunteer,” Dorman said. “It was just dumb luck that she happened to be at the game. If she hadn’t been, that young man might have died. I can’t stress how much of a risk we are taking with our young athletes when we fail to have immediate medical care available at sporting events.”
Dorman recommended that Oklahoma schools take advantage of a free online program called ACTive, provided by the Oregon Center for Applied Science. The program trains coaches on how to protect student athletes from concussions. Coaches and other school athletic staff members can enroll at http://activecoach.orcasinc.com.
Source: Insurance Journal.
Tags: health insurance
While some people still think of acupuncture as an exotic treatment that is only for the rich elite or the extremely eclectic, the reality is that this is a valid treatment for many kinds of muscle pain, as well as such conditions as asthma and bronchitis. It’s also been recognized as such by the World Health Organization (WHO) for many years, lending it an air of credibility that other forms of Eastern medicine don’t always have in the Western world.
Many medical clinics have on-staff acupuncture practitioners, as do many chiropractic offices and therapeutic massage clinics. As popular as this form of treatment is, however, one thing that is still not standard is insurance coverage for it. Many major insurers will cover acupuncture only if it is performed by an MD, while others will cover it, but require that your primary care physician refer you in order to do so.
Here are some frequently asked questions regarding insurance and acupuncture:
What if I’m Not Covered?
Major insurance companies which offer acupuncture coverage on at least some of their plans include Blue Cross, Blue Shield, Aetna, and First Choice.
If your insurance plan doesn’t offer actual coverage for acupuncture, check to see if they have an affinity program. This means that if you pick a practitioner from your provider’s list, you won’t be covered, but you will get discounted services, saving you some money.
Why Aren’t I Covered?
Insurance companies use many techniques in order to determine what is and is not covered by their plans. Treatments must be approved by several agencies, just as the FDA must approve drugs for use before they can be provided. As well, unless there is a demand for a certain kind of treatment – whether it’s acupuncture or anything else, insurance companies won’t add it to their plans. This is because in order for them to pay OUT in the form of benefits, there have to be enough people paying IN to make it cost-effective.
It’s also important to remember that insurance is about risk. New treatments are inherently riskier than tried and true methods. This is why there are studies done whenever new therapies, and even new surgical techniques, are considered.
If your plan does not currently cover acupuncture, consider beginning a campaign to get it covered. Write letters. Make phone calls. Get involved. For many years, annual mammograms weren’t covered by insurance. That they are now is due to the fact that patients and policy holders demonstrated a need. In short, they created demand.
How Much Does Acupuncture Cost?
Acupuncture fees vary widely depending on where you live. In some places the going rate is $75 / hour. In other places, the fee is much higher, and in some states, it’s lower. If cost is a concern, and you have neither an affinity program discount nor insurance coverage, you may want to call different practitioners. Do remember, though, that you get what you pay for – that low price advertised in the Yellow Pages may mean poor service.
Acupuncture is becoming increasingly popular as a pain management technique, especially after auto accidents (your auto insurance may cover it, by the way, even if your health insurance does not), and as a form of therapy for many other conditions. If you have the option to avail yourself of it, consider doing so. Just remember to call your insurance company and confirm coverage first.
