Newly insured push up health care claims in Nebraska, Iowa

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.livewellnebraska.com/consumer/newly-insured-push-up-health-care-claims-in-nebraska-iowa/article_7261b0e0-1ff9-11e4-9fdf-001a4bcf6878.html




BRYNN ANDERSON/THE WORLD-HERALD
John O'Neal, 60, left, of Omaha has an IV inverted by Terri Kendall before he receives a MRI at the Nebraska Medical Center on Feb. 20.


Posted: Sunday, August 10, 2014 1:00 am
By Steve Jordon / World-Herald staff writer

Pent-up demand for medical care among people new to health insurance is pushing up claims this year in Nebraska and Iowa, possibly contributing to higher premiums for individual insurance next year and extra federal payments to insurers next summer.

The 6,000 Nebraska families that bought individual Blue Cross Blue Shield of Nebraska health insurance on the Affordable Care Act marketplace in Nebraska are racking up about $1.30 in medical claims for every dollar in premiums paid so far this year, Blue Cross officials say.

Claims among CoOportunity Health’s 54,000 individual policyholders in Nebraska and Iowa are totaling about 90 cents per dollar of premium, with people who bought insurance on the state marketplaces leading the way.

More than 60 percent of the people who bought Blue Cross policies on the exchange were new to Blue Cross, and many of them are newly insured, said Andy Williams, a Blue Cross spokesman.

FULL story at link. Related Links: http://www.omaha.com/money/changes-in-companies-rates/article_2b91e1d4-9c63-5a34-bd61-78f47213dbb1.html


AFFORDABLE CARE ACT:

» Today is the deadline for states to forward proposed individual health insurance policies to the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

» Nov. 3 is the deadline for companies to sign agreements to sell policies on exchanges.

» Nov. 15 to Feb. 15 is the open enrollment period for buying individual insurance. (Note that group policies through an employer may have different dates.)

» Dec. 31 is the deadline to buy or renew individual coverage to start Jan. 1.

» People who extended 2013 individual policies into 2014 can extend them again for 2015.

» People who bought individual policies on state exchanges may be able to “auto-renew” them for 2015, updating income estimates but not re-enrolling from scratch.

» Penalties for not having insurance, assessed through federal income tax returns: 2014: 1 percent of income or up to $285 per family ($95 per adult, $47.50 per child), whichever is larger; 2015: 2 percent of income or up to $975 per family ($325 per adult, $162.50 per child), whichever is larger.