Needle in a haystack
According to the National Institutes of Health, 36% of Americans use alternative medicine as part of their health regimen. (Philadelphia's City Paper, July 9, 2008). Also known as complementary medicine or CAM, this covers acupuncture, herbal therapy and naturopathy, with treatments including chiropractic care, massage therapy, vitamin therapy, homeopathy, yoga and even hypnotherapy.

Yet, very few CAM treatments are covered by medical insurance, leaving patients to foot the bill themselves. For example, acupuncture typically runs $85 per session. There is some help by way of local clinics such as Philadelphia Community which is able to charge just $15 to $35, thanks to its use of blogs, social media and a how-to book for publicity. As with many alternative medicines, quite how acupuncture works is not known but it is steadily being recognized with more and more doctors agreeing that its benefits are positive - some even using it themselves.

Getting your back up 
West Virginians are among many trending towards alternative medicine in the search for more health options. (The State Journal, June 5, 2008) These days you may well find an eco-friendly medical office that focuses exclusively on healthier living. You may find kitchens where patients can learn how to make fruit and vegetable juices, perhaps an infrared sauna, or rooms for mind-and-body work and chiropractic care or lesser-known treatments such as reflexology and iridology. With West Virginia emergency rooms ranked as some of the most crowded in the country, receiving complementary medicine may even be less stressful too. (MSNBC, July 1, 2008)

As the cost of health insurance continues to rise, alternative treatments represent a cost-effective method of healing, especially for young adults who often forego health insurance altogether. (The Charleston Gazette, July 6, 2008) In addition, patients between 30 and 55 prefer safe non-invasive holistic treatments that promote wellness and slow the aging process. These facts have not gone unnoticed by insurers who are gradually including a few of the more accepted natural remedies among their coverage options. Some states also mandate their inclusion. As of January 2008, the Council for Affordable Health Insurance listed 46 states with mandated coverage for chiropractors, though only 11 states include acupuncturists, just 4 states for massage therapists and 4 for naturopaths.

Massaging the numbers 
Alternative medicine is becoming big business in the U.S. Americans made 628 million visits to alternative health-care providers in 2007, 243 million more than primary-care physicians. According to a study published by the Journal of American Medicine, that's $30 million out of their own pockets spent on complementary therapies.

It's worth noting that if not included as a specific benefit of your health insurance, some do offer discounted access to chiropractic, massage, acupuncture and naturopathy. It's easy to find out if your state mandates complementary and alternative medicine. Plus you can read more on the states referenced above at West Virginia Health Insurance and Pennsylvania Health Insurance, and all without getting bent out of shape.

Bookmark this page:

Song For America
The cost of providing healthcare to illegal immigrants makes health insurance more expensive for the rest of us. Take for example a woman illegally in the U.S. who has been at a Wichita hospital for over four months. (Wichita Eagle, June 15, 2008) Ineligible for Medicare or Medicaid, this patient needs long-term care. Not only does it take away a hospital bed from the rest of the taxpaying population, the costs have to be accounted for, and inevitably are passed on to your health insurance premiums.

Point Of No Return
Typically it's the E.R. which becomes the source of medical treatment for many illegal immigrants. Should they be turned away? Not if the only documentation required is proof of residency. (Vail Daily, June 15, 2008) What do doctors and nurses at our emergency rooms find themselves treating?... ear infections, sore throats, respiratory infections and fevers, hardly the best use of their time, and again, guess who the costs get passed onto.

Dust In The Wind
So the folks in Kansas decided to crackdown on illegal immigrants - and at a cost of $1 million beefed up their Medicaid proof of citizenship procedures. The result: 20,000 eligible Kansans lost their health insurance, because they could not meet the new tougher guidelines. Meanwhile, a grand total of one illegal immigrant was arrested. Hey, at least that's better than Colorado, which spent $2 million and for which the number of illegals they caught was precisely zero. (KSHB, June 19, 2008)

Carry On My Wayward Son
Yet despite these examples, other states seem to have no problem offering health benefits and services to illegals. In Massachusetts the Department of Public Health is launching a program to offer free healthcare to illegal immigrants. (Metro West Daily News, May 29, 2008) In California illegal immigrants get healthcare for their kids too. (ABC News, June 24, 2007) Meanwhile in Florida underground pharmacies and spontaneous field clinics welcome illegals with open arms. (NBC2 Fort Myers, January 31, 2008)

With this much hospitality expect health insurance premiums to continue rising unless of course we get some miracles out of nowhere.

Related links:

Bookmark this page:

Something Old
Women who have given birth via C-section are often told they should not or cannot attempt natural childbirth delivery. But that's old news. In 2005 the Washington Post highlighted the case of a 32-year-old mother of three, forced to leave the state of Maryland because hospitals there refused natural birth for anyone having had a prior Caesarean section. (November 24, 2005) Her first three children were born in Pennsylvania, though only the first by C-section. She had no problems or complications during labor with either her second or third delivery, but that did not cut any ice with the Frederick Memorial Hospital.

Something New
Now for any mother who has had a C-section, her newest hurdle will be higher health insurance, or even being denied for health coverage altogether. (New York Times, June 1, 2008) C-sections are costly. If you've had one before, you are much more likely to have another, a risk that insurance companies are not willing to take or, at best, will continue to offer health coverage but with grossly inflated premiums.

Something Borrowed 
Once an obstetrician makes the decision for a woman to have a C-section, the expectant mother may as well be living on borrowed time. 

1. One out of every eight babies are born early (520,000 each year)
2. In 2006, 31.1% of US births were by C-section, a 50% increase over the previous decade
3. Preterm births increased by 60,000 per year between 1996 and 2004, 92% being C-sections
4. C-sections are the most common major surgical procedure for women

The more they are performed, the less likely insurance companies are to offer affordable medical insurance coverage to mothers who've had a C-section.

Something Blue
However, it remains an open debate among the medical community as to whether a C-section is actually safer than a vaginal birth. Many call for the decision to be placed back in the hands of the mothers. (Anchorage Daily News, April 18, 2008) Advocacy groups cite the success of those fortunate enough to have had a VBAC (Vaginal Birth After Caesarean) leaving many to wonder why C-sections are so frequent. Why for example would a C-section be recommended to a first-time mother? (USA Today, Jan 8, 2008) How about increased risks with surgery, maternal illness and death? Throw in higher health insurance rates and being rejected for health coverage and you can understand why many mothers get those baby blues.

Related links: Maryland Health Insurance, Alaska Health Insurance.

Bookmark this page:

A Lesson in Health Insurance
You would be forgiven for thinking that our nation's educators have a good deal on health insurance. After all, it's generally accepted that teaching is not exactly the highest paid profession, so maybe there are some good benefits that motivate them to come into school every day? Apparently that's not the case in Arkansas where teachers pay twice the national average for health insurance (Arkansas News Bureau April 10, 2008).

Across the country teachers often find themselves battling for higher wages. Increases are sometimes granted, but often in exchange for teachers having to bear a larger percentage of their health insurance costs. On other occasions states agree to maintain their same share of medical insurance costs, but with no extra pay for the recipients. And yet more end up with no health insurance at all.

Far From Peachy
Teachers in Georgia face a different dilemma this year. They currently have health insurance through one of three insurers, two of which are being given the axe, replaced by only one new insurer. (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, May 22, 2008) The result, more than 700,000 teachers, state employees and their plan members will have to review the new plans being offered, decide whether to switch, or do as an increasing number in the profession are doing, by opting out from their school-sponsored health insurance altogether.

No Small Potatoes
Idaho teachers are no different. Low pay and soaring health insurance costs cause many to take on additional jobs, or follow a growing trend... move to Wyoming!! (The Olympian, May 17, 2008) As drastic as it may seem, Wyoming offers many advantages teachers in other states could only dream of. With a bigger budget for education, Wyoming's teachers can expect full coverage for both their health insurance costs and retirement plans.

If Wyoming seems too remote, teachers may want to try Texas.  Five years ago, the Texas health insurance plan for teachers was launched in the hope of saving teaching jobs in the smallest school districts. So successful was the initiative, it has rapidly evolved into one of the biggest programs in the state, signing up nearly 90% of districts and 335,000 of their employees and dependents. (Houston Chronicle, May 26, 2008) The plan, which has not seen an increase in premiums over the last three years, is expected to be adopted statewide in the near future due to its popularity and significant cost advantages.

Join the Cheerleading Team?
Texas and Wyoming would seem to be the cream of the crop for teachers that actually have affordable health insurance. For the rest of the country though, the conflict of spiraling health insurance costs and over-extended school budgets leaves many teachers with a lot more homework than they would like.

Related links:

Bookmark this page:

Employed, have health insurance, but not covered
Mammograms, medications and lab tests were all part of the $14,000 bill for one Wyoming woman whose health insurance barely even covered a hospital stay. (Wyoming Tribune-Eagle, May 10, 2008) If she wanted to have a biopsy, sorry, not covered, was the response from her insurer, that'll be another $5,000. Another lady from the Equality State, self employed for over 30 years, was dropped by her insurance company. Now 61, but still too young for Medicaid, she is unable to afford routine procedures. Her husband, a veteran and also self-employed, was not covered for triple-bypass surgery. A Cheyenne waitress found herself with a $27,000 invoice following five days in the hospital. It would take a very generous diner to pick up the tab that her insurance company would not.

Many people finding themselves in this situation go without necessary treatment because they simply cannot afford to pay the costs they would otherwise be left with.

Not affluent? Don't expect a doctor to help you
Some people aren't so fortunate that they can work through their pain and simply suffer with their ailments. Late cancer diagnosis in Delaware is becoming increasingly linked to a lack of coverage including those with Medicaid. (DelawareOnline, May 15, 2008) In a state with 50 percent more advanced stage cancer diagnosis patients than the rest of the country, a recent investigation found:

1. One-third of Delaware's primary care physicians do not take new patients with Medicaid
2. Low-income areas of Delaware are plagued by doctor shortages
3. Only three publicly funded community health centers, all poorly funded
   
   

Doctors make less money from patients with Medicaid, and appointments usually take longer since poorer patients make fewer doctor visits and require more attention.

Chicken and the egg 
Imagine for a moment that you've been a hard-working taxpayer and suddenly after an accident find yourself in need of prosthetics. You need prosthetics to get out of a wheelchair and back to work. But, if you thought your insurance company would cover this, think again - if you are in one of the 39 states that does not mandate coverage for prosthetics, then most probably it does not. The issue has come up so frequently in Louisiana that a new bill requiring insurance companies to offer coverage for prosthetics may soon come into law. (Baton Rouge's The Advocate, May 15, 2008) 

For more related information, visit Wyoming Health Insurance, Delaware Health Insurance and Louisiana Health Insurance.

The moral of the story: check your health insurance policy - you may be surprised at what's not covered, though that's hardly going out on a limb!

Bookmark this page:

Three Of A Kind
A pair of Democrats and a Republican - not your conventional three of a kind - but that's the hand currently being dealt to voters in this year's race for President. Obama, Clinton and McCain - all promising healthcare reform, but each with their own stance on health insurance.

McCain's Stake and Chips
Senator John McCain is staking his campaign on individual health insurance. His focus is to encourage Americans to seek their own health insurance which he believes will offer voters more choice and move away from employer-based group insurance. McCain's proposal:

1. Emphasizes choice in health insurance plans
2. Offers tax credits to help individuals pay for coverage
3. Makes individuals less reliant on employers and government
4. Would cover 20 million of the country's 47 million uninsured
5. Aims to stabilize the cost of health insurance
6. Would cost $7 billion per year
   
   

Some observers suggest McCain's plans would falter over time. In recognizing a far-from-perfect insurance market, McCain acknowledges some flexibility will need to evolve. The question for voters becomes whether he has invested enough chips into healthcare reform - generally regarded as one of the top issues concerning the 2008 electorate.

Obama and Clinton's Straight Flush
Should either Democratic nominee become President, your health insurance would most likely come from the government with many workers offered the equivalent of Medicare and new coverage mandates imposed on employers. Where they are flush with one another, Clinton and Obama's proposals:

1. Emphasize more affordable coverage to more people
2. Use premiums from those who don't file claims to pay those who do
3. Put the insurance industry on a tighter regulatory leash
4. Create large pools offering group rates for much less than individual rates
5. Would cover 33 million of the country's 47 million uninsured and cost $65 billion per year (Obama)
6. Would cover virtually all of the country's 47 million uninsured and cost $110 billion per year (Clinton)
   
   

Critics counter that the Democrats' plans would be a regression towards socialized medicine. However, unlike McCain they would not make any substantial changes to healthcare tax benefits. Their focus would be on creating a more cohesive insurance system with a better synergy between government, employers and individuals.

Play your cards right
This election year you will have nothing if not choice - all you have to do is decide which candidate is the best bet.

More details: Los Angeles Times (May 5, 2008)

Bookmark this page:

Elf insurance?
Kids may be little in stature but apparently so little their health insurance was overlooked by the federal government in 2007.  According to a recently concluded government audit, the current administration prevented states from extending health insurance coverage to children of moderate-income families. (Associated Press, April 18, 2008) Government-sponsored children's health insurance was capped at 250 percent of the poverty level ($44,000 for a family of three) meaning that states were prevented from expanding their children's health insurance progams. One Senator remarked that the decision to be made is whether to rescind the rule or continue to spend taxpayer money defending it.

Silver lining in the Treasure State
But help is on the way, at least in Montana. A recent statewide conference focusing on children's health received an enthusiastic response and highlighted numerous initiatives that are planned or already underway:

1. Report on early childcare and education of state's work force
2. Support for statewide full-day kindergarten
3. Increasing number of agencies and institutions advocating children's services
4. Program to help struggling families, especially when parents face job losses or health care crises
   
   

The state is particularly concerned with its current status as having the fifth highest percentage of children without health insurance.  (The Missoulian, April 18, 2008) With increased awareness of healthy lifestyle choices for children and with the support of business and education leaders, Montana hopes to turn things around and provide a better future for its kids.

Aloha to medical insurance
A new bill could help more than 2,000 children whose parents were laid off when Aloha Airlines was shut down on March 31. It's only an interim measure but one which recognizes that while parents are out looking for jobs their children are without the benefits previously provided by the airline. (Honolulu Star-Bulletin, April 16, 2008) The workers themselves are eligible for benefit continuation under federal law, but must pay the full premiums as well as the amount paid by their former employer. It was the largest mass lay-off in the history of the state so the financial assistance will be most welcome.

It may not be Mele Kalikimaka but a hui hou here's some more info: Hawaii Health Insurance and Montana Health Insurance.

Got a plan for your health insurance?
The cost of health insurance is increasing at a faster rate than the rest of the economy. For young adults this makes buying individual health insurance plans especially unattractive. What you should know:

1. Young adults, ages 19 to 34, are the largest and fastest-growing group of uninsured
2. There were nearly 14 million uninsured young adults in 2006, up 2.5 million since 2000.
3. One in five 19- to 29-year-olds don't have health insurance.
   
   

As of March 2008, 17 states had passed laws extending coverage for young adults. Today Iowa took steps to become the eighteenth, passing a Senate bill that will enable young adults to stay on parents' insurance policies longer. (Shenandoah's Valley News Today, April 11, 2008)

Surely there's state funding available?
If you're a part-time student, or, even if you work part-time, you are most likely not covered and not eligible for health insurance. You probably can't afford individual health insurance, like the 25-year-old woman from Nebraska who found herself liable for thousands of dollars in hospital bills following a car accident. (North Platte Telegraph, March 29, 2008). Nebraska is among the majority of states where parental group plans are only required to provide coverage through age 19.

In Maine a new bill aims to bring health insurance to more people, in particular offering incentives to younger people to buy individual health insurance. (Bangor Daily News, April 5, 2008) The proposed health insurance reforms would make health insurance more affordable to those whose employers do not offer health insurance benefits and/or buy health insurance on their own. The idea being that an influx of younger adults will counteract the older and less healthy who currently make up the bulk of the individual health insurance market and drive costs upward.

What are my options?
Well, you could wait for your state to adopt a universal healthcare program. Already in place in Massachusetts, Maine and Vermont, it would appear New Jersey may be next to mandate health insurance for all: New York Times (March 18, 2008). Other states may follow. Yours may be among the chosen few. If not, you could follow the examples and advice in our blog, Student Health Insurance, Feb 8, 2008.

Or read more on Iowa Health Insurance, Maine Health Insurance, Nebraska Health Insurance and New Jersey Health Insurance.

Or be sure to play the lotto!

People dying every day because they don't have health insurance
Did you know that not having health insurance can be fatal? (See our Blog, Feb 22, 2008). Every day dozens of people across the country are dying because they don't have health insurance. Now for the first time you can see exactly how many on a state-by-state basis. This month the national non-profit group, Families USA, has been releasing a series of reports putting a figure to the number of deaths which could have been avoided had the individuals had health insurance coverage.

In Ohio, two residents per day are said to die because they don't have health insurance: Akron Beacon Journal (Mar 28, 2008). In Virginia the number is ten every week: The Virginian-Pilot (Mar 20, 2008). Iowa reports three deaths per week: Des Moines Register (Mar 21, 2008). There are five per week in Wisconsin: Wausau Daily Herald (Mar 25, 2008) and an average of one every day in Colorado: Denver's KRDO (Mar 25, 2008).

The study reveals:

1. Across the U.S. in 2006, twice as many people die from a lack of health insurance as died from homicide
2. Uninsured adults are more than 30 percent less likely than insured adults to have had a checkup in the past year
3. Uninsured Americans are more than three times as likely as insured adults to delay seeking medical care
4. Uninsured adults are 25 percent more likely to die prematurely than adults with private health insurance
5. Three out of five uninsured adults under the age of 65 reported having problems with medical bills
   
   

Not having health insurance can lead to dire consequences, most notably medical debt, missed care and premature death.

Pre-existing condition? May as well be fast track to the morgue
There are many contributing factors as to why 47 million Americans are uninsured - though it doesn't help when those that could afford insurance are denied due to a pre-existing condition. A congressional bill is on the table intended to reduce the instances when an insurer can refuse to cover pre-existing conditions. The Hartford Courant (Mar 21, 2008) highlights a Connecticut woman's struggle as a diabetic, turned down by all insurers she approached until resorting to a state program costing over $1,200 per month.

1 out of 3 prefer no medical help to medical debt
On the flipside, 30 percent of those eligible for health insurance simply can't afford it, and actively choose to skip medical care because of the cost. This is the conclusion from a survey of 26,000 reported in the Chicago Sun-Times (Mar 26, 2008). The majority of those questioned were employed and nearly all acknowledged they were "somewhat or very concerned about being able to afford insurance." In addition, 53 percent of Medicare recipients said their prescriptions are not covered or are unaffordable and 63 percent spent more than $1,000 on healthcare in 2007.

Our law enforcement should no doubt be proud of keeping fatalities to half those claimed by being uninsured.

Associated links:

Insurers Don't Treat Mental Illnesses The Same As Physical Illnesses
In some states, health insurance companies are not required to treat mental health illnesses the same as physical illnesses. One such state is Arizona where The Arizona Republic (Mar 4, 2008) recently highlighted the issue of a 6-year-old who was dropped from his parents' health insurance plan, two weeks into his third hospital stay.

That was six years ago, and despite being subsequently diagnosed with bipolar disorder, Tourette syndrome and obsessive compulsive disorder, only his parents and a state-run program bear the financial burden of his medications and treatment.

It's been a long-running debate as to whether Arizona's insurance companies should provide the same benefits for brain disease as they do for heart disease, liver disease and other physical illnesses:

1. Politicians say new mandates would increase insurance costs
2. Insurance companies say existing benefits reflect market needs
3. Mental health advocates say benefits for mental illnesses are necessary
4. And that they actually lower overall health insurance costs
   
   

The closest the state will come to parity? - a new legislature proposal which dictates that if an insurance company chooses to offer mental health benefits, that the behavioral health services are provided at the same level as other medical services - which hardly sounds like motivation for insurers to offer mental health benefits.

It's OK If You Get Cancer, But Don't Try Getting Depressed Too
In Tallahassee, a lady who saw her father die from cancer, then later found herself battling with depression, was able to see the stark contrast between the cost of insurance for physical illness compared to mental disorders. (St. Petersburg Times, Mar 9, 2008) Florida law gives carte blanche to insurance companies to charge at will for mental health coverage.

Part of the issue revolves around the lack of definition for mental health disorders as having a defined "cure." Typically treatment requires therapy rather than surgery. As the Tallahassee patient also found, stigma is attached to mental disorders, with the public's view often maligned by their perception.

Parity Law Would Still Leave Coverage Optional
Last week the issue was debated in the U.S. House and a bill passed along the lines of the Arizona proposal, requiring insurance companies to bring parity between coverage for mental illness and physical illness (New York Times, Mar 6 2008). The bill does not mandate insurance for brain diseases and until the bill becomes law, insurance companies may continue to set lower limits on treatment or higher co-payments for mental health services than for other medical care.

For more health information in the states listed above, see Arizona Health Insurance and Florida Health Insurance.