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Archives for January 2014

Buying Health Insurance Online – 5 Shopping Tips and Dangers

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Here are 5 Shopping Tips and Dangers you need to look out for when buying health insurance online.

1. Buy only from a locally licensed agent who provides a NPN number and FFM user ID number. The NPN number basically says that this agent has a license to sell insurance. The FFM user ID number is certification number only given out to agents that have been certified to sell or offer insurance through healthcare.gov.  Ask the agent for both of these if they do not have it leave the site and do not give out any information.

Here is our information about us does your website your looking at provide this?   If not they are just selling your information.

Agent -Donald Murray 

(NPN number)- 5449625

(FFM user ID)- ZipHound

*Note please use or write down the numbers above. This is very important.  When signing up for a health plan you will be asked if you’re using a agency or broker. By using our agency or broker name you will assigned a local Utah agent and not an out of state company. The cost to use our agency is FREE. If you leave that section blank you will be left on your own to figure out which plan and company best fits your needs.

2. Never give our your email or phone number to get a health insurance quote. No reason exists to give your email out or phone number to get a quote.  The only time you need to do this is when you apply for a plan. Notice we never ask for this information.

If you see a website that collects your email or phone number they are most likely selling your information for a profit to other agents. Or worse the are a lead company that are appearing look like an agency.

3. Copy cat websites and Logos.  You will notice that we do not put other insurance company logos on our site. Many websites do this to trick you into thinking that they are  the insurance company. We only provide logos when your getting an actual quote.  Many lead based companies steal and put logos on the site to appear like they are a real agency or website. Our advice leave the site.

4. Fake Phone numbers or shady out of state agencies.  One of best ways to know if an insurance agency is local is to see if they have local phone number. Our phone number  is 801-900-5636, notice everyone else uses a 1-855 number or 1-800 these companies are from out of state. Why deal with an unknown agency out of state when you can deal with a local agency that knows the market.

5. Keep your passwords private.Use a combination of numbers, letters, and symbols. Never use any part of your telephone number, birth date, Social Security number, or address. If someone calls your phone number requesting this just hang up.

Source Utahhealth.com

Ziphound agency

 

Health insurance companies in Utah

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Health insurance companies in Utah -Who do we go with?

We have broken down and gave a basic review of 6 health insurance companies in Utah. An important thing to remember is you will want to use a licensed local agent in Utah to help you choose a plan. It costs nothing to use an agent and they give valuable tips and can save you thousands of dollars.

SelectHealth offers HMO and HSA High Deductible Health Plans exchange plans through  three networks: Select:Value (10 hospitals, 1,300+ doctors), Select:Med (34 hospitals, 3,900+ doctors) and Select: Care (43 hospitals, 5,000+ doctors). An overview of  the Select Health plans sold on Utah’s exchange is available at Utahhealth.com. Select health  offers HMO exchange plans in Catastrophic through Gold tiers. They also off private health insurance plans off the exchange. These type of plans are for people who do not qualify for subsidy.

Select health in our opinion is one of the best companies and should be your first health insurance plan that you review. The offer an incredible amount of doctors to choose from on exchange or off the exchange. It seems they offer the same amount of doctors regardless if you qualify for subsidy.

 

Humana Medical Plan of Utah or Humana one. Established in 1974 in Louisville, Ky.  Humana is one of the largest U.S. health insurance companies with nearly 12 million members. Its network is very large it includes over 350,000 doctors, 3,000 hospitals and 50,000 pharmacies. Utah residents who buy a Humana exchange plan may not have access to the entire network of doctors and hospitals because the plans on the exchange for Humana have been reduced. Though the cost has been reduced also. Humana offers HMO exchange plans in every tier they even have one with the platinum plan.
Overall Humana one is a good company and should be also one of your first choices when looking at a health insurance plan in Utah. Please be careful while looking up your provider for humana one for an exchange product or one where you get subsidy. The amount of doctors that you get are drastically reduced as compared to the PPO plan they offer off the exchange.

BridgeSpan Health. BridgeSpan, established by Regence BlueCross BlueShield, is affiliated with a company called Cambia Health Solutions, a nonprofit health services company. In addition to Utah, the company offers health plans in Idaho, Oregon and Washington. BridgeSpan offers PPO exchange plans in Catastrophic through Gold tiers.

The BridgeSpan product is new so we don’t have much to give as far as a review goes.

Altius Health Plans. Altius Health is affliated with Coventry Health Care, a subsidiary of Aetna. The Coventry network includes over 5,600 hospitals, 585,000 doctors and over 62,000 pharmacies.  Altius offers HMO and POS exchange plans in Catastrophic through the Gold tiers. Altius also offer health insurance plans that are off the exchange.

Altius  has some comparable plans and has been around a while. Like with all the companies you will want to start first with a provider directory in which you can seek out your primary physician.

Arches Mutual Insurance or Arches health plan  got a $85 million federal loan, this new, nonprofit, member-governed, co-op offers HMO exchange plans in Bronze through Gold tiers. Arches has relationships with hospitals in all of Utah’s twenty-nine counties,

This is new company so we cannot give a review yet as we have no experience has how the claims are paid or how the customer service is.

Molina offers HMO exchange plans in Bronze through Gold tiers. We don’t have to much information on the plans or customer service with Molina.
Information is very limited and we cannot give anyone a fair review of this company.

Regardless of which plan you use you will want to use agent or broker in Utah to help you out. The cost is free and regardless of which plan you choose the price will be the same. Please make sure they have two things an NPN number and a FFM user ID number. This will certify that they’re licensed through the marketplace.

 

To get your Free health insurance in Utah enter your zip code below

Utah health insurance premiums

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Balancing monthly premiums with out-of-pocket costs

As with all Utah health plans, you’ll have to pay a monthly premium each month. But it’s also important to know how much you have to pay out-of-pocket for services when you get care.
Plans in the health care marketplace are separated into 4 different categories: Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Platinum
  • Premiums are usually higher for plans that pay more of your out-of-pocket medical costs when you get care. For example, if you have a Gold plan 80%, you’ll likely pay a much higher premium, but may have lower costs when you go to the doctor or use another medical service. So ask yourself how much you go to the doctor, will you need future surgery. Do you have on going health issues?
  • With the Bronze plan 60%, you’ll likely pay a much lower premium, but you’ll pay a higher share of costs when you get care.
  • Platinum plans 90% will likely have the highest monthly premiums and lowest out-of-pocket costs. The plan will pay more of the costs if you need a lot of medical care. These plans will most likely only be offered off the exchange meaning most companies will not be offering these plans on the marketplace.
  • Remember the lower the premium, the higher the out-of-pocket costs when you need care; the higher the premium cost, the lower the out-of-pocket costs when you need care
  • If you happen to qualify for out-of-pocket savings, you must choose the Silver plan to get the savings. If you qualify for these savings, you’ll get the out-of-pocket savings benefits of a either the Gold or Platinum plan for the Silver plans price.  It is quite amazing the plan you can get for the price if you qualify for the silver plans out of pocket savings. But remember, you can choose any category of plan, but you’ll get the out-of-pocket savings only if you enroll in a Silver plan.

  • Overall just think about the health care needs of your household when considering which Marketplace insurance plan to buy in Utah. Also you will want to think about which company and what doctors are on that list. Certain companies on the exchange will only cover a certain area. And with most of them they will all be HMO Plans. Call our office at 801-900-5636 or see our free informational site at Utahhealth.com to find out which plans and doctors are covered on the exchange and off the exchange. Get started now and review over 150 health plans in Utah.

What does on or off the health exchange mean?

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What does off the exchange and on the exchange mean?
Basically when you’re buying on the exchange in Utah or sometimes referred to as obama care or even Utah health exchange you’re getting subsidy from the federal government because your income falls in a certain range.
For example if you’re family is making $50,000 a year and you have a family of 4, you may qualify for $400 or 500 in subsidy per month depending on age, income or agi adjusted gross.
To get an exact figure on what your subsidy credits will be just visit our informational site at Utahhealth.com or talk with an agent at ziphound.com
But lets say you make $85,000 for the family and you have 3 family members  at this point your family would make to much money and you would not qualify for any subsidy. You would be considered off the exchange meaning you would be buying your health insurance plan in Utah direct with one of the companies such as select health, humana one, or maybe Regence blue cross blue shield.
The plans and coverage will be very similar,  probably the biggest difference is that with plans off the exchange you will see a wider choice of doctors and networks.  All of these plans are guaranteed issue and will have no pre-existing conditions attached to them.
One more tip to remember is when you’re estimating your income each year with the health care insurance marketplace please make sure if your income goes up or down to make certain you update your income levels with healthcare.gov
To estimate what your subsidy is or to buy a plan off the health insurance exchange in Utah enter your zipcode below.
Utahhealth.com

What is a co-pay, co-insurance and OOP mean?

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1. What is a Copay

A Co-pay is your portion of the bill after the deductible has been meet. In  most cases you will have a $25 co-pay to see your primary doctor and if it is a specialist it maybe higher such as 40 or even 50.

2.What is Coinsurance

Most people are familiar and know what a co-pay is, but what about coinsurance?
Coinsurance is similar as to co-pay. Basically It’s your portion of a medical bill after your main deductible has been meet.
The difference between the two is that coinsurance is a percentage such as 90/10 or 80/20 while a co-pay is a fixed amount such as $25
What do these number mean? It’s very simple these numbers mean you pay for 10 percent or 20 percent of the bill after your deductible has been meet
After that your insurance company will pick up the tab for the rest of the approved amount up to the OOP or out of pocket maximum

3. What does Maximum out-of-pocket or OOP mean?

The  Maximum out-of-pocket annual spending means that once you have paid a certain amount for the year, your insurance company will begin paying 100 percent for all covered services.
One important thing to look out for when looking at the OOP or out of pocket maximum is that if your making a claim on an “out-of-network” you will most likely be paying a complete separate OOP and deductible
so be careful to stay inside your network so you’re not paying 2 deductibles. This could get very expensive.
What to know how much health insurance costs in Utah? enter your zipcode below to find out.
UtahHealth.com

Panel Says State Action Can Help Rein in Rising Health-Care Costs

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Jan. 8 — Actions taken at the state level may be the most effective over the long term in helping to rein in rising health-care costs because of the variety of policy tools available to governors and state legislatures, according to a report released Jan. 8 by a panel of national health-care leaders.

State officials have significant control over spending in Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program, insurance regulation, provider rates and medical malpractice laws, making states ideal laboratories to try new ways to deliver and pay for health care, said the 116-page report, “Cracking the Code on Health Care Costs.”

The report was released by the State Health Care Cost Containment Commission, a 12-member panel created in January 2013 by the Miller Center, a public policy organization at the University of Virginia.

The panel co-chairs are Michael Leavitt, a former secretary of health and human services in the George W. Bush administration and a former Republican governor of Utah, and Bill Ritter Jr., a former Democratic governor of Colorado.

The report follows news that health-care spending rose by just 3.7 percent in 2012, the fourth consecutive year of slow growth, according to Jan. 6 findings by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (see related story).

“While the rate of increase in the cost of health care has slowed over the last few years, it has still hit the tipping point and it is having a huge impact on consumer budgets,” said Gerald Baliles, the Miller Center’s director and chief executive officer and a former Democratic governor of Virginia, who spoke at a press conference to announce the report.

Leads in Spending, Lags in Outcomes

The report outlined structural problems in the U.S. health-care system that it said result in the nation spending more than twice as much on health care than any other industrialized country.

The problems include high costs for physicians, facilities and drugs, as well as fragmented care among providers, a fee-for-service payment system that encourages wasteful and unnecessary procedures and high administrative costs.

At the same time, despite the increased spending, the U.S. ranks lower than other advanced countries in several measures of health-care quality, including life expectancy, infant mortality, obesity, diabetes and heart disease, according to the report.

The report, which is “based on conditions as they exist with the Affordable Care Act,” is intended to spark discussions in state legislatures, as many begin new sessions early this year, Leavitt said at the press conference.

Commission member Andrew Dreyfus, president and CEO of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, added that the state-focused report may be even more relevant because “some of the national standardization anticipated in the Affordable Care Act has not occurred.” For example, only about half the states are participating in a major expansion of Medicaid that began in 2014 under the ACA.

Recommendations

Specific recommendations in the report include:

•  Use existing state health-care spending programs to accelerate the trend toward coordinated, risk-based care.States should establish standards for managing costs and promoting quality care and then apply them to state health spending programs, including Medicaid, state employee health plans and plans offered on state health insurance exchanges;

•  Change state laws and regulations governing insurance, scope of medical practice and medical malpractice. States should review these policies to ensure they promote cost efficiency and expand the availability of risk-based, coordinated care;

•  Help promote population health and personal responsibility in health care. States can educate consumers and state employees to encourage them to maintain healthy diets and lifestyles; and

•  Define and collect data to create a profile of health-care spending in the state. States should identify quality-tracking measures, create process for collecting cost and quality data and conduct an annual analysis of where health-care spending is concentrated and outside national averages.

 

“The strategies proposed in this report largely rely on transparency, purchasing power, payer and provider cooperation, persuasion and ‘soft’ regulatory pressure to spur the transition to more efficient, quality care,” the report said.

“Over time, however, the state may need to consider additional corrective action for some high-cost outliers,” it said. “States have many levers at their disposal to encourage compliance with state goals.”

 

To contact the reporter on this story: Ralph Lindeman in Washingtonrlindeman@bna.com

To contact the editor responsible for this story: JoAnn Goslin atjgoslin@bna.com

Source: http://www.bna.com/panel-says-state-n17179881372/

Many Utah families qualify for CHIP

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ST. GEORGE — As the world of health care changes with the opening of the federal Healthcare Marketplace, Utah’s Avenue H and expanding Medicaid and CHIP programs, the Utah Department of Health is anticipating an increase in the number of children insured through such programs.

Kolbi Young, Utah Department of Health spokesperson, said the eligibility requirements for Medicaid and CHIP for children have expanded income limits for parents, so more children will be able to qualify for health insurance under the programs.

CHIP in Utah insures about 35,000 children, but that number will change as the Medicaid expansion takes place, Young said.

The asset test for parents is also no longer a requirement for CHIP and Medicaid, which means more children will likely qualify for Medicaid coverage rather than CHIP, Young said.

“It is anticipated that both Medicaid and CHIP will see an increase in participation,” she said. “Between the drop of the asset test and the income limit expansion, it is making it possible for more families to qualify.”

CHIP provides Utah families who earn 200 percent or more of the poverty rate with subsidized health care for their children, Young said. That equates to about $47,100 per year for a family of four. Medicaid income limits have expanded to 133 percent of the poverty rate, or about $31,322 per year.

Health care enrollment spikes in Utah in December

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SALT LAKE CITY — Enrollment in health care plans on the federal government’s website spiked in Utah in December as thousands who previously were stuck in the pipeline got signed up, government figures released Monday show.

About 18,600 people had signed up for plans in Utah by Dec. 28. That’s more than 10 times the total at the end of November.

The spike occurred across the country as people scrambled to beat enrollment deadlines. Nearly 2.2 million had signed up nationwide through late December, more than six times the November total.

The online federal marketplace that went live in October was plagued by glitches, leading to a slow start for enrollment.

In addition to those who already have chosen their plans, thousands more in Utah are in the process of getting enrolled. The new federal figures show nearly 32,000 people have completed their applications but have yet to choose a plan. Nationally, 4.3 million people are in the pipeline.

Utah’s enrollees are significantly younger than those in most of the rest of the country, according to the administration’s breakdowns on those who signed up for government-subsidized private insurance through the federal and state markets.

Twenty-nine percent of Utah residents enrolled are young adults ages 18 to 34. That’s a higher percentage than all but two states: Massachusetts and the District of Columbia, which have far fewer total enrollees. Nationally, 24 percent of enrollees come from that age group.

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2014/01/13/6069493/health-care-enrollment-spikes.html#storylink=cpy

Utah working to process 24,000 applications for health care

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SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah Department of Workforce Services has employees manually processing applications for about 24,000 Utahns seeking health care benefits.

Utahns who accessed the federal health insurance marketplace at healthcare.gov between its launch on Oct. 1 and the end of December have been “stuck in limbo for a while” awaiting a decision on their Medicaid eligibility, said Nic Dunn, Utah Department of Workforce Services spokesman.

It is estimated that 24,000 people went to the website, filled out an application and were told they were potentially eligible for Medicaid benefits.

“But their applications were never sent to us because the federal exchange wasn’t set up yet to fully talk to our system,” Dunn said.

Utah was given an Oct. 1 deadline to have its computer systems ready to work with the federal system, he said. Ideally, Utahns can apply on healthcare.gov and learn if they may be eligible for Medicaid.

If they are potentially eligible, the application will be sent to Utah’s system, where it will be processed, Dunn said. A customer also could apply on the Utah Department of Workforce Services website, and if they aren’t eligible for Medicaid, that application could be sent to healthcare.gov to determine what other options are available.

“We had everything in place to be ready to meet that Oct. 1 deadline, but we were essentially waiting on the federal exchange to get its pieces in order to be able to meet that deadline and it didn’t happen just because of delays the federal exchange was facing,” Dunn said.

A number of Utahns went to healthcare.gov and were told they might be eligible for Medicaid, but because of the system error, the applications didn’t make it to Utah’s system for processing.

Read more at http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=28315570#XhbZ7W6OYmViudOH.99