The California Senate and Assembly have until the end of the legislative session, (September 14, 2007) to pass AB 8 and enact major changes to the private sector health care financing system. Governor Schwarzenegger is working to alter AB 8 before he signs it into law. Their reforms will [...]
Health insurance companies price their plans such that there is a balance between the amount you pay to the insurance company and the amount you pay when you need medical care. Selecting a health insurance plan is complicated by the huge number of options available: PPO, HMO, high deductible, [...]
BenefitsCafe.com is proud to announce a brand new tool to help individuals easily compare two different health insurance plans with the Health Insurance Plan Comparison Chart. With this side-by-side chart, you can follow a three step process to: 1. Calculate the BEST CASE for a health plan; 2. Calculate [...]
California legislators are debating whether to throw out the existing system of health care delivery and replace it with a government-run system. The legislators are likely to vote on SB 840 by August 31, 2006, the end of this legislative session. SB 840 was authored by Senator Sheila Keuhl (D-Santa [...]
A recent trend in the individual market place has been the introduction of "Low Cost - Zero Deductible - Single Only PPO" medical insurance plans. These plans are PPO plans (meaning you choose your doctor when you need care -not when you enroll as in an HMO plan. The [...]
Health Net of California has announced that effective July 1, 2006 they will be changing the premiums, plan names and making other changes to their individual medical insurance plans. After these changes Health Net will offer 33 individual health insurance plans - a mind boggling number. Compounding the confusion [...]
Health insurance is difficult to understand. There are many options offered by many different insurance companies. One simple way to compare different health insurance plans is to focus on the Best Case and Worst Case situations you may face when you pay for medical care. Best Case: you never [...]
The U.S. Treasury Department has clarified that in certain instances an employee can have a Health Savings Account (HSA) and also participate in a Flexible Spending Account (FSA.) See this press release on the interaction of HSAs with FSAs. Generally, participation in a Health Savings Account with a high deductible [...]
If you're a college student, recently graduated from college, or you're a parent of a college student or recent grad, you may want to consider an HSA (Health Savings Account) medical insurance plan. HSA compatible health insurance plans have high deductibles (typically $2,000 to $5,000 per calendar year.) HSA [...]
Young women seeking to purchase health insurance that includes coverage for baby delivery (i.e., maternity coverage) should consider the Blue Shield Spectrum 2000 PPO plan. This plan has a large deductible ($2,000) but also a low monthly premium (likely under $100 per month for people age 29 and younger.) [...]