Health

By Carla K. Johnson and Tom Murphy, January 21, 2014 The health care overhaul’s reach stretches far beyond the millions of uninsured Americans it is expected to help. It also could touch everything from the drug choices to doctor bills of people who have insurance through work. The law isn’t expected to prompt sudden, radical changes for workers. So you …

By Angela Perkey, 1/15/2014 The latest report on Obamacare enrollment indicates that a relatively small number of young adults under 35 have signed up for health coverage. This isn’t surprising at all. However, it’s not for the reasons that are often cited. Those of us who fall into this generation are generally not lazy. We also don’t think we’re invincible, …

Whew! The initial Obamacare enrollment is behind us, and we were able to assist our clients with coming into compliance with the new laws. Now what? ACA enrollment war stories? Did anybody else receive a call to help with coverage for the first of the year, “so I won’t be arrested for not signing up?”  Did anybody else receive an …

By Paul Downs, January 6, 2014 After writing eight posts on my search for health insurance, which generated more than 275 comment from readers, I was more than ready to move on. After all, I do have a day job — running my little factory — and I have other projects and problems to address. But my mind keeps returning …

Wednesday 8 January 2014 The cost of insurance co-payments for cutting-edge pharmaceuticals can vary widely from patient to patient. When the patient’s share of prescription costs becomes too high, many patients skip doses or stop taking medication entirely, according to research conducted at the University of North Carolina. Using data from health plan claims for the anti-cancer drug imatinib filed …

Sometimes, it doesn’t matter if we eat right, exercise and take care of ourselves. Sometimes, life happens, and it’s important to know that you didn’t do all that work of staying healthy for nothing. As the Affordable Care Act goes into effect, and the individual mandate makes health insurance a concern for the even the most off-the-grid nature freak, there …

By Charlie Weston – 02 December 2013 A SECOND health insurer is to push up prices from the first day of the new year. Aviva will hit families renewing their policies from January 1 with rises averaging 5.2pc, with some plans going up by 11pc. It comes just days after similarly sized premium increases were announced by GloHealth. Now the …

By Lena H. Sun and Sarah Kliff, Published November 21 Brokers and agents say a host of technological problems is blocking their ability to help consumers sign up for coverage through the federal health insurance Web site. They say it is a particular problem for people with major health issues — those considered high-risk — because they are least able …

These days, when technology is something people can’t imagine living without, how many Favorites and Icons do we have to keep track of to do business? In this industry, the answer is easily somewhere between 50 and 100 different websites! With so many new carriers providing web access, clients require faster response time, and agents should easily be able to …

Life and DI insurers have been using “nicotine” tests routinely for over a quarter century. Nevertheless, there continues to be frequent issues between producers, their clients, and underwriters regarding test results. Researching a lecture on anti-selection and fraud, I took a peek at what is out there about these tests on producer blogs. What I found makes this a high …