Changing Your Perspective on Health Care & The Price You Pay

April 21, 2009

The initial comment that got my attention dealt with the tweep’s suggestion that the insurance company should not be practicing medicine – nor should the insurance company be telling the doctor what type of treatment to follow or questioning the doctor’s professional opinion. The tweep said, “the problem of insurance companies practicing medicine by preventing people in pain getting what the physician order.”

I have never heard of an insurance company practicing medicine – so I asked which one was, indeed, practicing medicine. Further, I asked what the doctor and pharma company were charging for the drug regimen. And, I asked why they charged what they charged.

Read the full article →

Testing My Theory – Being An Engaged Consumer

April 4, 2009

My mom has had a recurrence of her colon cancer. She is holding up as well as could be expected. I am not.

Read the full article →

Health Insurance Is Not Health Care

March 13, 2009

As the debate on health care rages on in Washington and throughout the United States, and if there is only one thing that I can articulate with this blog, let’s agree to make on thing perfectly clear:

Health Insurance Is Not Health Care and Health Care is Not Health Insurance.

Read the full article →

Unintended Consequences of Government Intervetion in Health Insurance

March 10, 2009

The city of San Francisco is challenging a California state law allowing “gender rating,” a practice that permits insurance companies to charge women higher rates than men for policies in the individual health insurance market, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

Read the full article →

Entering The Discussion On Health Care Reform

March 10, 2009

Recently, I have been following Maggie Mahar’s Health Beat blog. I have commented on a number of posts by Ms. Mahar in recent weeks. Most recently, I commented on her post regarding the fear mongering on the conservative side of the political spectrum.

Read the full article →

COBRA – What Is It? Why Does It Cost So Much?

March 9, 2009

Why Is COBRA So Expensive?

COBRA coverage is nothing more than the employee’s existing health insurance coverage currently insuring the employee. Since employers are required to cover at least half of the cost of the insurance coverage, and in many cases cover at least 85%, the insurance provided to the employee is heavily subsidized by the employer.

Read the full article →

How Is Insurance Regulated and How Does That Affect the Price I Pay?

March 5, 2009

Insurance regulation is complicated and politically charged. Unlike securities, banking and other types of financial commerce, Insurance is regulated individually by all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

Read the full article →

Great Example of Why Your Insurance Premiums Are Too High

February 23, 2009

Your insurance premiums are priced based on similar principles as any other product – the cost of the good or service, taxes, overhead and profit. When the cost to create the good or service goes up, the cost of the product sold to you goes up. In the case of insurance, the cost of the good is the amount of claims paid on behalf of all policyholders.

Read the full article →

Learn About Loss Ratios – it affects how much you pay for insurance

February 22, 2009

What you pay for your insurance depends on many things – all of which you can find out about and learn. Better yet, your broker should know. You need to ask them to tell you what your policy’s loss ratio is.

Read the full article →

Gambling vs. Insurance

February 21, 2009

Gambling and insurance are two different things. Honest.

Read the full article →

← Previous Entries

Next Entries →