beniebuzz blog

Have you heard the news?

The Supreme Court will soon have a decision in the King v. Burwell case, which will determine whether government subsidies for individual health insurance plans are legal. This impacts 37 states that chose not to create their own online insurance marketplace, deciding instead to use the federal government’s Healthcare.gov website.

Picture this. You’re at your favorite restaurant with the whole family and they hand you the check. What do you do next? Do you just hand over your credit card without bothering to look it over? Of course not. You carefully review the list to make sure you’re paying for what you ate (and how many glasses of wine Uncle Leo drank). If there’s an entrée on the bill you didn’t order, you wouldn’t pay for it, right?

Same thing when your EOB (Explanation of Benefits) comes in the mail. It’s your insurance company’s snapshot of how a medical bill from your provider was processed.  

The Texas Medical Board (TMB) has ruled to severely restrict telehealth/telemedicine in the state of TX. In short, there is a contingent of doctors who say telehealth is unsafe – they want to enact a rule to allow telephone visits ONLY after an in-person visit (even for the simplest issues).

It’s guest post day here at freshbenies and we’re sharing some great advice from our friend and insurance expert, Tanya Boyd!

You have 2 days to save on your healthcare! Are you one of the 13.5 million Americans with a Health Savings Account (HSA)-eligible insurance plan? Do you have one? 

Perhaps you need to be reminded of the advantages! 

Consider this a quick "hey, don't forget" reminder that you have until April 15, 2015 to fund your 2014 HSA. 

Here we are 4 months into the year. Are you paying more for your prescriptions? I hear it from a lot of people, but I didn’t experience it until recently. 

Has this ever happened to you? You don’t feel well, you’re 99% sure what the issue is (because you’ve had it before), you spend time booking a doctor appointment, you spend time driving there, you spend time sitting in the waiting room, you spend time sitting in the exam room – all to get your 4 minutes with the doctor who gives the advice or Rx you expected. To top it all off, you spend time waiting to pay your $150 visit fee. 

I just heard a frightening story that could happen to ANY of us. I’m compelled to share when I hear something scary, gross or bizarre – I think it helps to get it out of my mind when I pass it off to someone else. Because of this odd phenomenon, I’m writing about it. You’re welcome. 

Here’s the story…

One day in November of 2014, a man (we’ll call him John) took his child to a local ER/Urgent Care. His bill ended up being the following under his insurance plan…

Total Original Price = $1,600

Insurance Paid = $1,100

Have your out-of-pocket costs increased under your current healthcare plan? The stats scream, "YES!" According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, premiums have increased 69% since 2004. If you get insurance through your employer, your contribution has skyrocketed by 81%. 

Add to that, the price of the actual healthcare has gone up exponentially!

Add to that, when you do need to access “the system,” it’s a mire of confusion.