November 11, 2011
The holiday season has sprung up and along with it, November’s Long-Term Care Awareness Month. There is no better time for generations of families to begin planning festivities, and the needs of aging parents and loved ones always remains top-of-mind. When those close to you need long-term care, it may impact the entire family—financially, physically, and emotionally. That’s why now is a great time to start planning your own future health insurance needs.
So what types of care are covered in long-term care?
- Skilled Care– Care provided daily from nurses or professional therapists to help you recover from a serious illness or injury.
- Intermediate Care– The same as skilled care, but not provided on a daily basis. For instance, if you injured your arm and need to visit a physical therapist four times a week to help you heal.
- Custodial Care– Assistance with daily activities like bathing, eating, dressing, toileting, continence and transferring.
Having long-term insurance isn’t only about money; it’s also about peace of mind. Ronstadt Insurance will ensure you’ll have access to first-rate care whenever you need it. Our company is a valuable resource for long-term care planning advice and we will guide you to take the right steps in protecting your assets, loved ones and future. Please contact our company today.
November 9, 2011
In these next few posts, we will be discussing the ongoing debate concerning government drafting of what health insurance carriers must cover, which raises emotionally charged issues revolving around patient need, medical necessity, and cost control. Feel free to contact us if you have further questions.
Defining Essential Benefits: Generosity vs. Affordability
Under the health system reform law, one of the Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) most consequential challenges involves deciding how to define the essential benefits (listed below) that must be offered by all health plans in state health insurance exchanges.
- Ambulatory patient services
- Emergency services
- Hospitalization
- Laboratory services
- Maternity and newborn care
- Mental health and substance use disorder services, including behavioral heal treatment
- Pediatric services, including oral and vision care
- Prescription drugs
- Preventive and wellness services and chronic disease management
- Rehabilitative and habilitative services and devices
http://www.cms.gov/LegislativeUpdate/downloads/PPACA.pdf
HHS’ final decisions will affect options for tens of millions of people who would obtain their individual or small-group coverage through private health insurance plans in the state exchanges. The Congressional Budget Office estimates the amount of people obtaining insurance on the exchanges will grow from 13.8 million (2014) to 29.2 million (by 2018).
An ongoing debate about this issue weighs out the pros and cons of generosity versus affordability. “The more generous you make the benefits, the more expensive it will be, and if it’s more expensive, perhaps access to insurance will be less,” said John Ball, MD, chair of the IOM committee. Large companies generally offer more benefits than smaller businesses. So, do you keep essential benefits comparable to small-group, mediocre plans or a large-group, much more generous plan? Contact our office for further discussion. Your opinion counts!
