| Today, December 7th, is the end of the open enrollment period for Medicare recipients. Susan Jaffe from the KaiserHealthNews.org website reports that extensions are being offered to people who are unable to enroll due to wait times, but only by three days. A spokesperson for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid claims that extensions will only be available to seniors who contact the appropriate resources and are put on a call back list. For more detailed information visit the official Medicare website for contact resources and phone numbers. Time is running out, so hurry if you have not completed your Medicare enrollment. Written by Sam Tabes Follow me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/smartshopper78
Approximately 40,000 retired public sector employees have sued New York State over an increase in health insurance rates. The suit was recently filed in the Albany County State Supreme Court according to the article “Retirees Sue State Over Health Insurance Hike” by Rick Karlin found on TimesUnion.com. The president of the Retired Public Employees Association, Stan Winter, speaks for the group when he says the Governor had no right to raise personal health insurance rates for these retirees. Gov. Andrew Cuomo and other state officials have been named defendants. The rate increase brings the employee share from 10% to 12% for singles and 25% to 27% for family plans. This increase seems unreasonable to the retirees since it could add up to thousands of dollars over time and many of them are on fixed incomes. Millions of Americans across the nation are paying more for their health insurance and many employers are not contributing at all, while some are dropping health insurance benefits altogether. The Governor is in a tough spot as health care costs rise. Earlier in 2011, the Governor’s office pulled back on a previous plan to raise health insurance rates for government retirees. The rate increases are similar across industries in the nation offering health insurance benefits. Written by Sam Tabes Follow me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/smartshopper78
The Florida Health Choices Program was first conceived in 2008, and Florida legislators are finally hoping that the health plan for small businesses in Florida launches in July of next year (2012). The program essentially sets up an “exchange like” marketplace where employers and consumers would have a single point of access to compare health insurance products from different companies. Florida Health Choices was initially slated to launch phase 1 — called “quick start” –this past summer, but the program is behind schedule. The new plan is for employees of small businesses to begin enrolling in May/June of 2012 with effective dates beginning in July. More information about Florida health insurance
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