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Health insurance terms to know as open enrollment begins : Life Kit : NPR
Do you ever feel like health insurance is confusing on purpose? There is so much jargon and so many acronyms. It’s tempting to just close your eyes and point at a plan, hoping that it’s in your budget and covers the stuff you’ll need it for. But putting in a bit of time to learn what these health insurance terms mean can empower you to better understand what signing on to a plan might mean for your budget and your health. Now’s the time to get in there because fall is open enrollment season. Whether you’re picking a plan for
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Insurance Focused on Virtual Visits? The Pros and Cons of a New Twist in Health Plans
Julie Appleby, Kaiser Health News At the height of the covid-19 pandemic, people often relied on telemedicine for doctor visits. Now, insurers are betting that some patients liked it enough to embrace new types of health coverage that encourages video visits — or outright insists on them. Priority Health in Michigan, for example, offers coverage requiring online visits first for nonemergency primary care. Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, selling to employers in Connecticut, Maine and New Hampshire, has a similar plan. “I would describe them as virtual first, a true telehealth primary care physician replacement product,” said Carrie Kincaid, vice president
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Too young for Medicare? Here are 5 health insurance options to try instead
Too young for Medicare? Here are 5 health insurance options to try instead Millions of soon-to-be seniors are watching with envy this week as open enrollment for Medicare begins. While there were high hopes President Joe Biden would lower the qualifying age from 65 to 60 through his massive Build Back Better plan, we now know that’s not going to happen. So what’s a person to do if they’ve left the workforce, along with their employer-provided health insurance, but are still too young to apply for Medicare? Fortunately, there’s more than one way to get your hands on reliable, affordable
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Unvaccinated people may have to pay more for health insurance
by: Matt Wright, Nexstar Media Wire Posted: Oct 10, 2021 / 12:30 PM CDT / Updated: Oct 9, 2021 / 01:33 PM CDT CLEVELAND (WJW) – You may wind up having to pay more for health insurance if you are not vaccinated against COVID-19. More employers and insurance companies are considering raising health insurance premiums for employees who choose to forego vaccination. Starting in November, Delta Airlines will charge unvaccinated employees an extra $200 a month for the company health plan, citing the high cost of COVID hospitalizations. “It’s similar to what already occurs with smokers,” said Tom Campanella,
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A Louisiana Health System Will Increase Insurance Fees of Employees With Unvaccinated Spouses
Louisiana’s largest nonprofit health care provider will increase its employees’ insurance fees next year if their spouses or domestic partners are unvaccinated, the provider said. Ochsner Health said in a letter to its employees last month that it was adding the extra charge — about $200 a month, starting next year — for unvaccinated spouses and domestic partners who are covered by the company’s insurance plan. The letter said this move was an effort to “protect our entire Ochsner team, which includes employees, their families and the communities we serve.” Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York
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For federal employee health insurance, it’s never if, but how much?
It’s practically inevitable that health insurance rates for federal employees and retirees will go up each year, and it’s no different for 2022. Participants in the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP) can expect to pay, on average, about 3.8% more toward their health premiums in 2022, the Office of Personnel Management announced last week. Overall premiums will go up — again, on average — 2.4% next year, with the government’s share rising by about 1.9% in 2022. That’s actually a relatively modest bump, at least compared to recent years. FEHB participants paid an average of 4.9% more toward their
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UnitedHealthcare acquires Golden Valley-based health plan PreferredOne
UnitedHealthcare has acquired PreferredOne, a health insurer based in Golden Valley, in a deal that promises to help the nation’s largest insurer compete for business in its home state. The transaction closed Monday morning, said Hayes Batson, the chief financial officer of Fairview Health Services, which took full ownership of PreferredOne in early 2016. Financial terms were not disclosed. The acquisition was a strategic move for UnitedHealthcare, which in 2017 announced a push for a bigger piece of the Minnesota health insurance market. Historically, PreferredOne stood as the fifth largest of the non-profit carriers in the state. A spokesman for
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Unvaccinated Delta Air Lines employees face health insurance surcharge
Americans infamously vote with their wallets. Turns out, they may get vaccinated against Covid with their wallets, too. In the two weeks since Delta Air Lines announced a $200 monthly health insurance surcharge for unvaccinated employees, 20% of Delta’s unvaccinated employees have already gotten the jab, Dr. Henry Ting, Delta’s chief health officer, said in an Infectious Disease Society of America briefing Thursday. “I think [that’s] a huge number in terms of shifting that group that’s most reluctant,” he said. Of the airline’s 80,000 employees, 20,000 still remain unvaccinated, added Ting, who is also an adjunct professor of medicine at
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