“Yes! Student loan debt is one of the most difficult financial issues facing new grads. Rising costs of tuition/education can make it hard for new grads to get a start in life – whether it be buying their first home, purchasing a new vehicle or affording other key items or investments.
Posts Tagged ‘Kane County’
Should companies begin offering student-loan help to employees?
Monday, May 20th, 2019Health insurance deductibles soar, leaving Americans with unaffordable bills
Monday, May 20th, 2019“Soaring deductibles and medical bills are pushing millions of American families to the breaking point, fueling an affordability crisis that is pulling in middle-class households with health insurance as well as the poor and uninsured.
In the last 12 years, annual deductibles in job-based health plans have nearly quadrupled and now average more than $1,300.
Pharmacy Program Quarterly Update: Changes Effective July 1, 2019
Wednesday, May 1st, 2019Applies to: Group Markets
Learn about the revisions to the drug list for members with prescription drug benefits administered by Prime Therapeutics®.
Drug List Changes
Based on the availability of new prescription medications and Prime’s National Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committee’s review of changes in the pharmaceuticals market, some revisions and/or exclusions will be made to the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois (BCBSIL) drug lists, effective July 1, 2019. Changes by drug list are listed on the chart links below.
Why Hospitals Should Fear Blue Cross Primary Care Centers
Tuesday, April 23rd, 2019“As if hospitals and health systems didn’t have enough emerging threats with big well capitalized publicly-traded insurance companies and drugstore chains developing primary care clinics and urgent care centers in their backyards.
Now come the nation’s largest Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans that dominate big diverse markets like Florida, Illinois, Texas and New Jersey. These Blues plans are backed by their own financing, venture capital funds and primary care partners looking to expand doctor offices, urgent care and health centers in communities across the country. (more…)
Can Health Savings Accounts Be a Bulwark Against Long-Term Care Costs?
Tuesday, August 21st, 2018“Many retirement accumulators take pains to dot the i’s and cross the t’s of their retirement plans. They noodle over their portfolios’ asset allocations, carefully calibrate when they’ll begin claiming Social Security benefits, and think hard about withdrawal rates.
But many such painstaking retirement planners don’t give another major variable more than the periodic anxious thought: how to pay for long-term care. And is it any wonder so many people are in denial? For one thing, it’s a flip of the coin as to whether you’ll need long-term care: 52% of people turning 65 are expected to have a long-term care need during their lifetimes, and another 48% will not. The prospect of needing long-term care is inherently unpleasant, and that care can also be ruinously expensive, running upward of $100,000 per year in urban areas.
(more…)
Short-Term, Limited-Duration Insurance Final Rule
Tuesday, August 21st, 2018“Background
The Secretaries of the Treasury, Labor, and Health and Human Services published a proposed rule to consider allowing short-term, limited-duration insurance to cover longer periods and be renewed by the consumer on February 21, 2018 in response to both stakeholder input in the Request for Information “Reducing Regulatory Burdens Imposed by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act & Improving Healthcare Choices to Empower Patients,” as well as Executive Order 13813 entitled “Promoting Healthcare Choice and Competition Across the United States.”
Most common questions about ACA insurance
Tuesday, September 19th, 2017“Welcome to Fix My Finances, a Yahoo Finance personal finance series. Each episode, we take a look at one viewer’s financial state of affairs and offer advice, insight and information on a variety of issues, including how to save more, spend less and pay off lingering debt.
7 Healthcare Expenses Medicare Won’t Pay For — The Motley Fool
Friday, August 18th, 2017“If you’re looking forward to getting Medicare because you think this health insurance for seniors will provide comprehensive coverage, you may end up disappointed. Studies have shown seniors with high-prescription drug needs could incur as much as $350,000 in out-of-pocket spending on healthcare during retirement, even with both Medicare and a supplementary Medigap policy.
Illinois’ stack of unpaid medical bills now reaches $3.5 billion
Thursday, April 6th, 2017Crain’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 includes months and months of unpaid medical bills on behalf of state workers and retirees. At last count, the state owed $3.5 billion in medical bills for its employees, according to a spokesman for the Illinois comptroller. In early March, a dental lobbying group said dentists who treat state employees were owed a collective $174 million.
