Florida I.R.A. News

This week the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments concerning the individual mandate requirement in the health care reform act. If the court rules that the mandate is unconstitutional it could undermine the whole bill.  Without the mandate, insurers could not offer coverage to all regardless of health conditions which is the key aspect of the bill. The ruling is expected to be announced this summer

Humana  is now offering a comprehensive wellness program to small businesses (under 50 employees) at no additional cost.  The program called Humana Vitality allows employees to complete an online health risk assessment and then participate in programs that are designed to lower the employee’s health risks. Members get points for each program they complete and the points can be used to purchase movie tickets, gift cards, and even fitness equipment.  The more employees  participate the better it is for the whole group since Humana will discount premium based on the number of employees reaching their goal. This no program is a win-win for both the employer and employees and should reduce the cost of health care for everyone

Hundreds of thousands of young adults are taking advantage of a health care reform provision that allows them to stay on their parents health plan until age 26. The Health and Human services Department had estimated that about 1.2 million young adults to join their parent’s plan in 2011,  The early numbers being reported by large insurance companies show that it could be much higher then that. Under the health care reform law, insurers must allow adult children to stay on the enrollee’s plan until age 26 even if they no longer live with the enrollee or are a dependant of the enrollee.

Humana PPO dental plans now offer coverage for implants for groups with at least ten employees. In addition Humana has raised their annual maximum to $2500 which is the highest of any dental plan available on the market today. This means that Humana will pay up to $2500 of covered services and will pay %30 of any covered services even after the $2500 is exhausted. This is a very stronge dental plan which will meet the needs of most familes. If you would like to receive a quote on this comprehensive dental plan, please call 888-267-2656.

In a previous post we announced that Cigna Healthcare would no longer offer coverage to small groups in the state of Florida. Now we have found that they also will not be renewing existing groups effective May 1st.  If you are currently with Cigna and your annual open enrollment is after may 1st, you will need to switch carriers because Cigna will not allow you to stay with them. You should begin your search for a new carrier at least 60 days in advance of your effective date to allow plenty of time to install the new carrier. If you would like quotes from us, please call us at 888-267-2656 or visit our website at  www.myfloridaira.net

U.S. District Court Judge Roger Vinson who recently ruled the the Obama administration’s health care reform law is unconstitutional has issued a stay of his own ruling. This is in response to the U.S. Justice Departments request for clarification of his ruling. The stay is conditioned upon the Justice Department filing an appeal within seven days and also requesting an expedited review of the law by the Supreme Court. Vinson also wrote in his stay that states affected by the ruling should continue to implement the law while the case is pending.

Many health insurance companies will place riders on policies that  will exclude coverage for a designated health condition. This means that the condition and anything related to it will not be covered by the policy. So the question is, if you are offered a policy with a rider should you accept it, in most cases the answer is no. Riders can very very dangerous since they can leave you with tens of thousands of dollars in medical bills that the insurance company has refused to pay. Let’s say for instance that you have a policy that excludes high blood pressure and you have a heart attack,  the insurance company will say that the attack was related to the high blood pressure and they will refuse to pay. When shopping for individual health insurance, try to stay with companies that will not rider your medical conditions.  As your mother always said “it is better to be safe then sorry”

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida has reintroduced their Bluecare HMO. This is an open access HMO which means that no referrals are needed and you do not need to pick a primary care physician. The benefits are rich, the network is huge, and the cost is about 10% below what a comparable ppo would cost. This is a good thing for Florida’s small businesses because it will increase competition and force other insurance carriers to offer lower cost plans

We have all received the faxor gotten the robo-call, health insurance for the whole family $195 per month or everyone pays the same regardless of your age or health status. Is this possible? the answer is no it is not possible, if I had a horrible driving record and yours was clean would we pay the same for auto insurance? If my house was built on the edge of a volcano wouldn’t my homeowner’s insurance cost more? Of course and it works the same way with health insurance. A 50 yr old smoker is going to pay more then a 20 yr old non-smoker, that is just common sense. So the next time you get one of those faxes, throw it away and if someone calls and tells you everyone pays the same for health insurance, hang up you are being scammed

One of the techniques scammers use to sell bougus or worthless health insurance polices is tell tell the consumer that it is open enrollment so you better sign up now. Please be forewarned, there is no such thing as open enrollment in individual health insurance. Open enrollment is a term used in group health insurance when employees can make changes to their plan. If an agent or salesperson tells you that it is open enrollment for their plan, you are being lied to and it is in your best intrest to walk away