South Carolina Health Cooperative

There have been many changes made to Carolina health insurance over the years, but more are coming. This includes a South Carolina health cooperative designed to help small businesses pay for health care for their employees. With health care costs making or breaking a small business, any help they can get will be valuable.

The South Carolina Health Cooperative (SCHC) combines many different types of companies together to create a pool that applies for health insurance. SCHC structures plans over the long term which protects smaller companies from unexpected rate increases. SCHC is the first approved cooperative in the state which happened this month.

The co-op is available for small businesses with 2-50 employees and the application process has been started. The best thing about this type of pool is that the more people that sign up, the more negotiating power there is to get low rates from the health insurance companies.

Carolina Health Insurance

There are many affordable health insurance options in the Carolinas. There is a good variety of plans to choose from such as HMO plans, PPO insurance, health savings accounts, HDHP, family health insurance, as well as individual health insurance. Carolina Health Insurance has come a long way.

In North Carolina, Medicaid pays approximately 20% of the population. This is a great way to help the less fortunate have proper health insurance coverage. North Carolina Health Choice for Children is a unique option for families do not qualify for Medicaid because they make too much money but still can't afford the pricey cost of health insurance for a full family. This program offers free or discounted health insurance options for the children of these families.

South Carolina has similar health insurance options, but there are some differences from North Carolina. Hands on Health South Carolina is a valuable resource offered by the government to help residents lead healthier lifestyles. Partners for Health Insurance (PHC), provides South Carolina residents Medicare coverage to dependents who are 18 years or younger coming from families of low income.

Both states have great options for their residents which is excellent news in this economy and with the challenges residents face getting coverage as well as having access to health information.

Washington Basic Budget Update

It is still unclear as of December 2009 whether or not Washington Basic will make it through the year. Basic Health will continue to offer coverage to its enrollees at least until June 30, 2010. The Basic Health Plan has been targeted to be eliminated and it provides health care coverage to about 65,000 individuals which is about $160 million.

To stay within the approved budget Washington Basic Health no longer processes new applications to determine eligibility and has a waiting list. You can still submit applications to be put on the waiting list and there are some groups that can bypass the wait list. These include foster parents, personal care workers, health coverage tax credit, tribal sponsored accounts, Washington National Guard or Reserves, some maternity applicants, and former Basic Health members who stopped coverage because of Medicaid coverage and who have since lost that coverage. They have to notify Basic Health within 30 days.

Carolina Health Insurance also is affected by the economy and budget cuts are happening throughout the company. See how your health benefits may have been affected and if anything major has changed.