Covered California sent a letter to everyone that has a PPO plan and told them that their insurance company would assign them to a Physician on January 1st 2017 as part of a new feature.
Is this a “feature” to you?
Read this article to learn about what’s happening.Read More →
Learn What Steps You Need To Take To Minimize The Increases Covered California just announced health insurance rates are rising in 2017. This is not just a Covered California issue. If you get your insurance directly from an insurance company you will see your rates rise as well. It has never been more important to understand the steps you need to take to keep your costs down. We’ll show you what the California health insurance rate increases are going to look like. Then we’ll show you what steps you can take to make sure that your 2017 rates don’t skyrocket. Quick Overview Of 2017 CaliforniaRead More →
The next open enrollment period begins on November 15th and ends on February 15th, 2015. During this period you can choose to stay on your current plan, move to another plan, or enroll in health insurance for the first time. For the 2015 Open Enrollment Period in California there are many changes taking place, and you need to be aware of the following: Changes to health plans. a. Health plan benefit changes. b. Standardization of all health plan names. c. Health plans that are going away. d. Rate Changes. Timeline for open enrollment changes. Covered California renewal process. a. Required income verification authorization. b. RequiredRead More →
The second domino in a linked chain has tipped over. Two weeks ago Aetna announced its departure from California’s individual and family health insurance market, and yesterday UnitedHealth Group, Inc (parent of UnitedHealthcare) announced that UnitedHealthcare (UHC) is leaving California. With UnitedHealthcare leaving California, about 8,000 members will need to get new health insurance before December 31st, when their UHC coverage ends. In this article, we’ll show you the best replacement health insurance plans from the remaining California insurance companies. In California, UHC provided individual health insurance through their Golden Rule subsidiary using the brand name UnitedHealthOne. Golden Rule was created by UHC overRead More →
Aetna Health Insurance announced they are leaving the California marketplace for individual and family plans. The end date of all their plans is December 31, 2013. All 49,000 Aetna clients still have six months to figure out what health plan they should move to. In this article we’ll give you a simple mapping that recommends which plans you should move to based upon the Aetna health plan you currently have, a “gotcha” to watch out for, and a couple of silver linings to feel good about. The simplest way to replace your Aetna Health Insurance is to simply look for an alternative plan withRead More →
What Do We Do About Health Insurance After Having A Baby? Bringing a new baby into the world is an honor and a joy, so first off we want to congratulate you on that. Within those first 30 days there are big decisions to be made and what we’re going to do is give you a look at how choosing the right California health insurance after having a baby can be simpler than you might expect. The key to being empowered to make the best decision for your family is understanding your options, knowing what steps to take, and that’s what SPF Insurance will helpRead More →
Blue Shield of California this week disclosed the new health insurance plans they will offer beginning on July 1st. These plans will replace all but 4 of the company’s current plans, and will add maternity care and mental health therapy for Autism. The only existing plans that will continue to be offered after July 1st are the Spectrum PPO 5000, Spectrum PPO 5500, Access+ HMO, and the Access+ Value HMO. Blue Shield of California Plan Overview The new replacement plans are the Shield Secure Plus PPO, Shield Secure PPO, Shield Wise PPO, and the Shield Saver plans. Each of these plans offers similar benefits withRead More →
With the beginning of April it becomes time to start running quotes for individual and family health insurance rates with a May 1st effective start date. The new rates and changes that Anthem Blue Cross of California announced in March now become very evident. Many Anthem customers that have older health insurance plans have seen their rates finally reach the “pain threshold” and as a result they are looking for lower cost alternatives. My quick assessment, from the first half dozen quotes I’ve run, is that Anthem has given up a huge chunk of their lead over the other individual and family health insurance companiesRead More →
In the search to find good maternity insurance California mothers have found fewer options to choose from over the last few years. However, new mandates in 2012 will require that all health insurance plans in California provide maternity health coverage. Both the Individual/Family plans as well as the Group plans will be affected by these new rules, which take effect on July 1st, 2012. Senate Bill SB222 by state Senator Noreen Evans, and Assembly Bill AB210 by Assemblyman Roger Hernandez, were both signed by Governor Jerry Brown on Oct 6th. These two bills require that every health insurance plan offered in California must provide maternityRead More →
Between 2007 and 2009 the number of uninsured women increased by 12.8%, and the March of Dimes PeriStats database shows that 22.3% of women in their child bearing years are uninsured. So it’s not uncommon to be pregnant without health insurance in the US, and the situation has been getting worse each year. For women who are pregnant, no insurance means they have to bear the full cost of prenatal care and delivery, which can total $12,000 to $20,000 depending upon where you live and the type of delivery you have. These costs make getting health insurance for pregnant women a priority. No matter whatRead More →
We just added new information on the California Maternity Health Insurance page that will answer all your questions about how much your costs will be during the prenatal care and baby birthing process! One of the common questions we get from couples planning to have a baby is, “What will our costs be if we use Pregnancy Health Insurance plan ABC?” This new article, Analysis of Best California Maternity Health Insurance Plans covers the detailed cost break down of the five recommended maternity health insurance plans. One of the key parts of the analysis is showing the tradeoffs between paying more for the prenatal andRead More →
After a lot of work, We’ve compiled all the California Maternity Health Insurance information into one page on the website. This way it will be easier to find the information you’re looking for and simplify applying for maternity coverage. While we were compiling the information and adding new content, we realized that there was more information that’s needed to really provide a complete picture for maternity medical insurance, so we’ve put in little notices about the upcoming content to check back for. If you need something that was missed, please post a comment and we’ll respond (and thank you!). The new California Maternity Health InsuranceRead More →
Ask someone in San Diego if they should have Medical Insurance, and they’ll likely agree that it’s a good idea. But ask that same person if they’re confident about shopping for insurance and picking out the best San Diego Medical insurance plan and they always say “no”. They say they “don’t understand” health insurance or they “don’t have the time” to find the information, and there’s always something else that needs to be done first. It could be much easier if they knew 3 simple keys to make shopping for San Diego Medical Insurance a snap. Use an informative website with the tools you need,Read More →
For everyone that’s looking for the perfect resource to help make San Diego Medical Insurance easy to understand and apply for, the wait is over. The San Diego Medical Insurance page is now live and ready. This page starts by having you answer 5 questions to determine what benefits you need in your medical insurance plan, then guides you through the medical insurance quote and helps you easily find and compare the insurance plans that match what you outlined in the first step, so you can make the best decision. Then it walks you through the process of applying online, and gives you tips onRead More →
There are usually many questions people ask me when they are filling out their health insurance applications. So I’ve created a new article that gives you tips on what to do and what not to do, so that your application is truthful and complete, and presents your health history to the insurance company in a fashion that is most favorable to you. This should be recommended reading for everyone before they start an online medical insurance application. To see this article go to the Health Insurance Quote Information page and scroll down to the bottom. If you’d like, a shortcut the article can be foundRead More →
An update to this post is now available, with more details and an additional option on the California Maternity Health Insurance page of the website. The short answer is probably not unless you qualify for one of two exceptions. These exceptions are, join a group health insurance plan at your work or your spouse’s company, or if you have a non-maternity plan check to see if your insurance company will allow you to transfer to a plan that covers maternity care (Blue Shield of CA will allow a transfer to a maternity plan). If the above options don’t help you, do you have other choices?Read More →
Health Insurance Recommendation Table Updated! See the updated recommendation table with new information as of July 2012. This table will be updated whenever there are changes to pricing or benefit levels. The recommendations are based upon the characteristics of the 6 Consumer Classifications described below. These 6 classifications are further broken into 3 age groups: 30, 45, and 60. The ages were chosen to show the pricing differences in plans due to age. In many cases, plans that are recommended for younger ages, might not show up for other ages because the price has gone up too much. Use the recommendations from the table asRead More →
This information is outdated now. SEE THE NEW Obamacare MATERNITY INFORMATION HERE. Congratulations on your decision to start a family! There are a few planning steps you’ll want to make sure you complete before you become pregnant. The first step is making sure that your finances can support the addition of a new baby. The second step is to make sure you are ready for the hardship and joy of bringing a new baby into the world. The last step is to make sure that you have maternity coverage in your health insurance plan that will help manage or reduce the financial costs of pregnancyRead More →
Blue Shield of California members can breath a sigh of relief after the company announced that they were withdrawing their rate increase and guaranteeing members that rates would not increase again in 2011.Read More →
Blue Shield of California today announced a 6 month rate guarantee on all Individual Health Insurance plans that have a Jan 1, 2011 effective date or later. What this means is that if you apply for a Blue Shield health insurance plan your rate will not change for the first 6 months, unless you have a birthday. After 6 months, Blue Shield has the ability to change your rates when they need to. Last year Blue Shield offered a 1 year rate guarantee, but chose to eliminate that guarantee option in October of 2010 when the first changes for Health Care Reform began to takeRead More →