Tag Archives: medicare

The Sequester Will Affect Insurance

The sequester will cause a bunch of automatic funding cuts to programs that help thousands of Americans, beginning on March 1, 2013. This can only be prevented if Congress manages to come to an agreement about how to stop it from happening. At the time I am writing this blog, that agreement does not appear to be likely. Here’s how the sequester will affect the insurance that covers you and your family. Unemployment Insurance Benefits People who are laid off, who worked for companies that went bankrupt and closed, or who lost their jobs through no fault of their own … Continue reading →

Insurance and the State of the Union Address

The State of the Union address is something that the President of the United States gives once a year. President Obama recently gave the 2013 State of the Union address. The topics can be about anything that the President feels is important. This year, some of the speech related to insurance. The State of the Union is an annual speech that the President of the United States presents to the United States Congress. It has several purposes. The State of the Union address is a report on the condition of the nation. The speech allows the current President to outline … Continue reading →

How the Fiscal Cliff Deal Affects Insurance

You’ve probably heard quite a bit about the “fiscal cliff” by now. It isn’t often that we hear about Congress having to work towards a decision during the New Year holiday. Here are the ways that various forms of insurance will be affected by the fiscal cliff deal. There are a whole lot of details involved in the “fiscal cliff” and in the deal that was finally made in regards to it. Since this is the Insurance Blog, I’m going to focus on the portions of the situation that have an affect on various types of insurance. In the days … Continue reading →

Open Enrollment for Medicare Ends Soon

Many health insurance plans have what is called an “open enrollment” period. It is the time when people can make changes to their health plans. The end of the open enrollment period for Medicare is coming up fast! Medicare is a public form of health insurance. It covers people who are age 65 or older. It also covers people (of any age) who have End Stage Renal Disease. Medicare also covers people who are younger than age 65 and who have certain types of disabilities. There are four different parts to Medicare. Part A is “Hospital Insurance”. It covers inpatient … Continue reading →

Medicare Will Gain Thousands of New People Each Day in 2011

The American Association for Retired Person’s, (AARP), has figured out that there will be a whole lot of new people joining Medicare in 2011. It is estimated that there will be 65 new Medicare beneficiaries every eight seconds, which comes to 7,000 new people each day. It has been said that this could drain Medicare this year. This is the year that many of the people in the generation known as the Baby Boomers will begin retiring. People who were born between 1946 and 1964 are part of the Baby Boomer generation, a time when over seventy-five million children were … Continue reading →

What to Expect in 2011 From The Affordable Care Act

Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of Health and Human Services, has provided a detailed update about the new benefits that consumers can expect to see in 2011. These benefits are a result of the reforms and regulations to health care that are a part of the Affordable Care Act. Consumers saw several beneficial changes to health care in 2010, and will continue to see changes until 2014. Beginning in 2011, insurance companies will be required to spend at least 80% of the money they get from the premiums that they charge their customers on health care, and other quality improvements, that will … Continue reading →

Upcoming Changes to Medicare

People who are using Medicare are about to see some changes being made. The good news is that the changes will result in better coverage for the Medicare prescription drug plans. The bad news is that these new changes will also result in an increase in the cost of premiums. The average monthly premium that a person who is using the Medicare drug plan will pay in 2011 is about to increase. The average cost increase might be $30.00 a month. In some cases, it could be even higher. More specific details about this increase will become available on Medicare’s … Continue reading →

President Obama’s Town Hall Meeting with Seniors

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President Obama has met a lot of opposition to his new health-care law, but today, he tried to win over senior citizens as many watched his live broadcast about changes in Medicare. Senior citizens may be one of the most concerned groups about health care. After all, as many people age, their health starts to fail or at least become more fragile. And most senior citizens are on a limited budget. With medical care and prescriptions rising, the cause for alarm is understandable. Under the new health-care law, seniors on Medicare will begin receiving $250 drug rebate checks in the … Continue reading →

Watching Alzheimer’s Progress From Afar

Back when I lived in New Jersey, I was one of the main caretakers for my grandmother. I lived with her, so it was usually easy enough for me to handle insulin injections for her diabetes, daily meds (for various health conditions, including Alzheimer’s disease), grooming, and light cleaning. In May 2007, I moved out. I was feeling too stressed and frustrated with the caretaking duties, and starting to have disturbing dreams about hurting her deliberately. That was when I said enough was enough. I didn’t want there to even be a chance of those dreams becoming reality. It’s been … Continue reading →

Caretaker Stories: Feeling Guilty

I’ve been composing this post in my head since I read about the Utah State University study on the relationship between caretakers and Alzheimer’s patients. I was one of the primary caretakers for my grandmother — who among other health issues has Alzheimer’s disease — for the better part of three years. It’s hard, frustrating, stressful, exhausting work, and eventually I had to stop. I packed up and moved across the country to have a fresh start in a new place, surrounded by friends. And left my mother doing the majority of my grandmother’s care. When I was still there, … Continue reading →