Latest News + Info
The latest information relating to the health insurance industry.
How Safe Is Your Medicare?
The Fool reports: "There are several popular misconceptions about the financial condition of Medicare, which virtually all American senior citizens rely on to cover healthcare expenses in retirement. Many people believe Medicare is broke, or that there's virtually no...
When high deductibles cause even insured patients to postpone care
CNN Money reports: "In November 2015, Tina Heck was in her garage lifting 40-pound bags of wood pellets to fuel her heating stove, when something went very wrong with her back. "The next day, I could barely walk," said the 55-year-old who lives on an acre of land in...
Health Insurance Brokers Help Employers Lower Healthcare Costs
ACA Times reports: "When it comes to providing healthcare as an employer, cost is a major concern. Under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), applicable large employers – organizations with 50 or more full-time employees and full-time equivalent employees — are required to...
BCBSIL to Stop Offering SHOP Plans (Small Group 1-50) Starting Jan. 1, 2018
Blue Cross and Blue Shield reports: "We want to let you know that Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois (BCBSIL) will not be participating in the Federally Facilitated Small Business Health Options Program (FF-SHOP) marketplace with BCBSIL health insurance plans...
Obamacare rates in Illinois could climb next year
The Chicago Tribune reports: "Health insurers want to raise premiums next year for Illinois consumers who buy coverage through the Obamacare exchange — in many cases citing uncertainty surrounding the health care law as a reason for the proposed jumps. Average rate...
Illinois’ stack of unpaid medical bills now reaches $3.5 billion
Crain's Chicago Business reports: "The state budget stalemate, which has stretched on for nearly two years, is putting lives on the line, according to emotional testimony out of the Illinois House yesterday. That's because the state's now $12.6 billion backlog also...
Insured Through Your Job? Medicaid? The ACA? Here’s What Could Change For You
Yahoo News reports: "It's even clearer now how much the GOP plan to replace the Affordable Care Act will change health insurance for just about everyone. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office Monday released its estimates of the cost and impact of the House...
A new kind of doctor’s office charges a monthly fee and doesn’t take insurance — and it could be the future of medicine
Yahoo Finance reports: "Dr. Bryan Hill spent his career working as a pediatrician, teaching at a university, and working at a hospital. But in March 2016, he decided he no longer wanted a boss. He took some time off, then one day he got a call asking if he'd be up for...
No one thinks the GOP health bill is a good idea for Illinois
Crains Chicago Business reports: "There are not many things that Republicans and Democrats in Illinois agree on. But there's near universal consensus that House Republicans' proposed Obamacare replacement would do serious harm to Chicago and the state as a whole. The...
Is Medicare Tax-Deductible?
The Motley Fool reports: "Medicare provides critical health benefits to countless senior citizens, and while Part A, which covers hospital visits, typically does not impose a premium, Parts B and D, which cover preventative services and prescription drugs,...