Even Families With Insurance Put Off Or Go Without Care Because ‘It Costs Too Much To Be Healthy’
April 29th, 2011
The high cost of health care is deterring parents from taking their children to the doctor or buying prescription medication, regardless of how much money they make or whether they have health insurance, according to a study to be presented Sunday, May 2, at the Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) annual meeting in Denver.
Previous research has shown that families who have difficulty paying their medical bills may delay or forgo needed care. In this study, researchers sought to determine factors that affect families’ decisions to put off or go without care, including the cost of health care relative to a family’s income and having a child with a physical, social, behavioral or cognitive limitation such as asthma, autism or obesity. Read full post…
Tags: Care, Care Costs
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Texas Insurance Veteran Sees Opportunity in Growing Hispanic Market
April 29th, 2011
With 30 years of industry experience under his belt, one Texas-based insurance executive decided it was time to open his own operation to serve the insurance needs of the growing Hispanic population. While Dallas-based Hispanic Affiliates General Agency recently opened its doors, the project has been years in the making, explained Tony Gonzalez.
Having served in executive roles with insurers that utilize the independent agency distribution channel of the property/casualty insurance business, such as Safeco and Republic Group, Gonzalez’s expertise extends from marketing to sales to commercial underwriting and more. No
Tags: Growing Hispanic, Hispanic
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Credit Card Debit Advice
April 27th, 2011
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Many people find themselves in a lot of credit card debt. Having too much debt makes it difficult to pay the bills each month. Even if people do not have trouble paying their bills at the moment, loss of income can change all that in an instant.
Tags: Card, Credit Card
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California Insurance Regulators Want Authority to Reject Rate Increases
April 25th, 2011
A bill was advanced on Tuesday by California legislators hoping to give regulators the authority to reject excessive rate increases proposed in health insurance policies. While disagreements ensued between legislators, mostly along party lines, the bill eventually received the 12 votes needed to move it out of the assembly health committee.
Regulators Want the Right to Reject Rate Increases
Health insurance companies have been known for attempting to impose high rate hikes on their customers. Th
Tags: Increases, Rate Increases
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(Mis-)Using the Tax System to Subsidize Health Spending
April 24th, 2011
Health reform created the opportunity to redirect tax incentives to promote greater equity, efficiency, and choice in insurance markets. The opportunity, however, has largely been lost. First, tax credits for insurance will be available only through new health insurance exchanges, not to workers with coverage through their employers, which discriminates against one group of low-income people over another based on where they work, not what they can afford. Second, the “Cadillac” tax on high-cost insurance is intended to improve incentives for efficiency in the health system, but it is only a half step that also creates new inequities. Thi
Tags: Health, Health Spending
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Health Reform To Make Health Insurance Affordable For Nearly All Families
April 24th, 2011
Ninety percent of American families living above the federal poverty level will be able to afford health insurance under the Affordable Care Act, according to a new Commonwealth Fund report by Jonathan Gruber and Ian Perry of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). The report finds that new subsidies available through health insurance exchanges established under the law will make premiums affordable for most families. But the authors also warn that high out-of-pocket costs will likely mean some families will still be unable to afford health-related expenses. Read full post…
Tags: Families, Health Insurance
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Airing Grievances with ObamaCare
April 23rd, 2011
Thank you very much, Grace-Marie, Jim, Bob, and all the other folks at our respective institutions and to HarperCollins for making this wonderful book project possible. Id like to thank the Obama Administration and the last Congress for making this necessary, but I dont want to. So lets just continue our collective Heimlich maneuver to dislodge whats stuck in our throats. Our books written to provide you with a firm foundation and understanding of the serious consequences of the un-Affordable Care Act, or aka-ACA, for Americans in various slices of life.
I think we do that in a clear and accessible manner, at least my co-authors did. But
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Are Americans More Willing to Pay for Plastic Surgery Than Prescriptions?
April 22nd, 2011
The ability to pay for healthcare is an ongoing issue for many Americans, especially as health costs continue to increase. But a recent study conducted by Thomson Reuters found that Americans feel more optimistic about their ability to pay for their healthcare than they did at the end of 2010.
This is especially true in the area of elective surgeries, something more people are willing to pay for than they were in 2010. But what’s interesting in the study is that there was a decline in the number of people expecting to pay for their prescriptions. D
Tags: Pay, Pay Plastic
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