A growing problem
Financial identity theft is when someone steals your credit card or debit card, or uses your personal information to take out a loan in your name.
Medical identity theft is when someone uses your personal information to fraudulently receive medical care and have it paid for by you or your insurance.
If that person is treated under your name, your finances, your medical history and your health … read on
Traditional and expensiveOver the next few weeks many families, mine included, will receive the dreaded letter from their health insurance company that tells them how much their premiums will be for 2019.
Last spring my insurance company applied for a 29% rate hike. They settled for 19%. That still hurts. Especially because the deductible and out-of-pocket maximum are going up, too.
I really feel for other families receiving … read on
Short-term health insurance plans are coming backIs there anything about our healthcare system, especially the insurance market, that isn’t confusing?
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) finally phased out most short-term health insurance plans last year, but last week the current administration changed the rules to bring them back.
The cost of health insurance is really expensive for anyone who doesn’t have an employer-provided plan or doesn’t qualify for … read on
When will these double-digit increases stop?OK, it’s June and that means it’s time for my annual rant about ever-increasing health insurance premiums.
In my state, Washington, the Office of the Insurance Commissioner just posted the proposed rate increases.
Not in Washington? Use this interactive map to find the insurance commissioner in your state and search for rate increases.
By law these requests have to be made public and … read on
Surprise medical bills can catch you by, well, surpriseBottom line on top: If you’re the victim of a surprise medical bill, there are resources to help you.
After several years of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), many of us are resigned to high premiums, high deductibles and small provider networks.
We try to be good healthcare “consumers” (as if we really want to buy healthcare!) by reading the fine … read on
If you are one of the millions of people suffering under our broken healthcare system, take heart.
Industry leaders who recognize your pain actually exist, and are trying to help.
Changing the system is a huge and thankless task, because the bulk of the industry is profit-driven and resistant to giving up the status quo.
But these individuals and groups are using different ways to connect with increasing numbers of … read on
Happy New (Calendar) Year!It’s a new calendar year, and that means many people will have a new health insurance plan. Or last year’s insurance will have been tweaked with a slightly higher deductible or copays, or an updated list of “in-network” providers.
This is a good time to sit down and become familiar with your health insurance benefits, so you aren’t taken by surprise when you actually need to … read on
The health care debate rages on.
Atul Gawande, one of my favorite physician-authors, wrote an article on this topic last week in The New Yorker magazine.
He spoke to residents in his home state of Ohio and posed the question, “Is health care a right or a privilege?” He listened to their stories of unexpected illness, lost jobs and medical bankruptcy. Yet none of them thought their health insurance should … read on
Health insurance companies in my state finally submitted their requests for 2018 rate hikes.
Usually I can look up this info online by mid-May, but all the partisan and intra-party bickering over the future of healthcare in this country has left insurance companies scratching their figurative heads over how to price next year’s policies.
I remember a time when I never gave my health insurance … read on
It’s the start of a new year or, in health insurance lingo, the start of a new calendar year deductible. I’m reposting this from last January, because this month is the best time to start trying to schedule that annual exam or annual wellness visit (it could take weeks, after all, to get an appointment!).
I usually advise people to get any screening tests or annual … read on