Tag Archives: Kathleen Sebelius

Who Needs the Healthcare.gov Website?

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HEALTHCARE DOT GOV 2

Op-ed by Kenton Henry

If the administration and main stream media will not tell you–I will:

You can go through me–or any licensed health insurance agent or broker to acquire health insurance. NOW. And this is whether you qualify for a subsidy or not. And, importantly, there will be no, I repeat – $0 difference in your cost (premium) for doing so vs. the government website Healthcare.gov or a private insurance company’s. Period. Now where have you heard “Period” before and it turned out to be true? Well . . . in this case it is.

There is only ONE reason to go to the still basically inoperable, security in doubt, aforementioned federal government health insurance website known as The Marketplace:

1) You qualify for a subsidy of your 2014 health insurance premium and you would like to take advantage of that subsidy as you pay your premiums. I.e., you qualify and would like the premium you pay to your insurance company to be reduced by the amount of your subsidy as you pay the premium. (This as opposed to paying the gross premium (cost before your subsidy is applied) then declaring your subsidy on your 2014 tax return and having your tax liability reduced accordingly.)

If you this does not describe you – there is absolutely no reason to go to healthcare.gov!

Neither do you need to go through a state appointed, federally funded Navigator, hired by the State and required to complete only 20 hours of online education and be subjected to no background check. Why replicate and risk the possible insecurity of your personal information which includes your address; birth date; social security number and reported income by going through someone not even vetted by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) or the Center for Medicare Services (CMS)? As the Secretary for HHS, Kathleen Sebelius, admitted under oath and questioning from Texas Senator John Cornyn during Congressional, hearings just last week – “It is possible (for a convicted felon to be hired as a Navigator and take your personal and vital information).”

This begs the question: Why is the administration and main stream media not advertising, and barely mentioning, that a health insurance shopper can go through a licensed and vetted insurance agent who has passed a background check with every company with whom they are appointed and do so at no additional cost? Or that the shopper can then have all the expertise that that agent’s time in the industry (27 years in my case) brings to bear on their needs and situation? Or how about a “go to” advocate in their behalf they can call whenever there is an issue relating to claims; rates or general service related issues such as changes in address or dependents. This as opposed to a different unknown service rep at the end of a toll free number each time they call an insurance company directly?

I will let you speculate on the answers to these questions but (while the purpose of this blog is to educate the follower on issues relating to health and Medicare insurance) indulge me while I for once engage in a little shameless self-promotion on behalf of myself and all licensed agents and brokers:

If you reside in Texas; Indiana; or Ohio – please visit my website at http://allplaninsurance.com and click on the bold red “Get A Quote!” button on the home page or–better yet–call me toll free @ 800.856.6556 and let’s have an intelligent dialogue about your true wants and needs relative to coverage and then get some meaningful quotes and information for you. All without submitting the equivalent of a home mortgage application!

If you reside in any other state – do yourself a favor and call a well recommended licensed health insurance agent or broker in your community.

Again, call me even if you do qualify for a subsidy. I can help you just the same and–as without a subsidy–your cost for insurance will be the same. If you do not want to take the subsidy now but would rather take it on your 2014 tax return (when you actually know what your income will have been) we can apply for you now and have your coverage issued immediately.

If you want the subsidy applied upfront, to reduce the premium you pay each month, we will still have to enter the healthcare.gov website. But we will do so only after we have obtained your gross quotes via my website. I know the formula and can do a pretty fair job of estimating your net premium (after your subsidy is applied). If this scenario describes you,  as the federal website is still inoperable, we should wait and see if HHS and CMS have the site fixed and secure by November 30th as promised. Let’s keep our fingers crossed and–if so–we should sail (wink, wink) through the application and have your coverage issued by January 1. But remember, if all government deadlines remain as now, we will need to complete your application no later than December 15th!

Admin. – Kenton Henry

http://allplanhealthinsurance.com

What will my health insurance premiums go to January 1?

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07.23.2013
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What will your health insurance premiums be come January 1? If you are covered by a small business (less than 50 employees)group plan – projections are you can expect your company’s premiums to increase by a minimum of 8%. If you are not covered by an employer group plan, you will be forced to buy from a federal, state or partnership (between the two) exchange or directly from the private market. While premiums are predicted to go down in as many as 10 states, that leaves 40 where potentially they will not. The question remains – what will your premiums go to? The federal exchange which–will be the source for plans in 34 states which are not creating their own exchange–is yet to release their premiums for the plans which must be available by October 1st. The word is that you better qualify for a subsidy or you are looking at rates at least 30% higher for those currently covered.
As our feature article details, the debate still continues as to how accurate and complete is the information we are being fed as to what our costs will be.
Admin. – Kenton Henry
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Feature Article:
GOP: Obama administration selective with health law data
By Tom Howell Jr. – The Washington Times
Congressional Republicans on Monday accused the Obama administration of withholding data on insurance premiums because it would undermine positive trends the White House touted last week while promoting the health care law.
Citing news reports, three senior GOP senators and the chairmen of House health-related committees said the administration has collected premium filings for 34 states that will use a federally run or federal-state partnership exchange — a market where those without employer-based insurance can buy coverage with the help of government subsidies — but it will not release the information until September as it negotiates the final rates.
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SPECIAL COVERAGE: Health Care Reform
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“We believe it is essential that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services provide transparent pricing as soon as possible for the millions of Americans who will be impacted by this law,” they said in a letter to HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, arguing many Americans’ premiums will rise under the Affordable Care Act.
They also accused the Obama administration of negotiating rates in secret, something the Wall Street Journal editorial page described as “running Obamacare as a black-ops mission.”
Supporters of the law have been buoyed by news out of New York, where officials last week said premiums on the state’s health care exchange in 2014 will be about 50 percent lower than last year’s direct-pay rates for individuals.
The Obama administration then released a report showing that, on average, premiums would drop by 18 percent in about 10 states and the District of Columbia. Those states have made information available for the individual market in 2014, when their health exchanges open under “Obamacare.”
Since then, Republicans have cited states where early data suggest that premiums will rise.
“Instead of selectively highlighting provisions and data that paint a rosy picture, we encourage the administration to give the American people as much information as possible so they can plan and prepare, and so that we can continue the necessary oversight,” the senior Republicans said in their letter.

http://allplanhealthinsurance.com