CA Temporary Federal Risk Pool Approved

Yesterday, two legislative bills were passed in Sacramento which will allow for California to run a temporary risk pool using federal funds (under PPACA). The risk pool will provide coverage on a temporary basis until January, 2014.The two bills, SB 227 (Alquist) and AB 1887 (Beall) will provide both parity for mental health and substance abuse (AB 1887) as well as the temporary risk pool for

MRMIP Will Not Be Used For Risk Pool

Today the CA Governor announced that California will not use the MRMIP program as the temporary high risk pool for uninsurable California residents.Instead, MRMIP will continue to operate alongside the federal risk program to be established by HHS in the next few months.Stay tuned for more details on the temporary risk pool and how to enroll. Remember, the federal risk pool is a temporary

Anthem Fights Back (Finally!)

On Thursday, a "reporter" at Reuters wrote a story about Anthem/Wellpoint deliberately rescinding health insurance policies on women who developed breast cancer. The article, which was then rebroadcast by other media, is full of factual errors (one of the women was not even insured by Anthem/Wellpoint and another's name was mispelled throughout the article). The media "report" even caused HHS

This Is What Happens When You Don't Read The Bill!

I guess someone forgot to tell the administration and those who voted for health insurance reform to actually read the bill. The current bill signed into law yesterday does not, in fact, provide guaranteed-issue health insurance coverage from children this year, sort of. I assume this will be fixed but we will have to wait and see.Gap in law for children's healthcare protection

Anthem: The Tale of the Tape in California

I was curious about the impact of the now-delayed Anthem Blue Cross rate increase on premium levels. I could only think of one way to find out, so I ran quotes on myself in Gilroy for four comparative coverage plans from the four California health carriers. Kaiser and Blue Shield are not-for-profit, so they should win, right? The results may surprise you! The rates below include the Anthem

Anthem Answers Sebelius

Anthem President and CEO of Consumer Business, Brian Sassi, addressed his response to Ms. Sebelius regarding her inquiry concerning Anthem rate increases in California.Click here to read Mr. Sassi's letter