Individual Health Insurance Mandate: Is It the Right Thing?

Health care reform continues to be debated throughout the nation. One of the more controversial topics is the individual health insurance mandate that is leaving many Americans feeling pressured and strapped. There are arguments on both sides of the fence, but the bottom line is that the mandate is most likely happening within the next year or so. There will be exceptions made for certain groups and individuals, but overall everyone will be required to have health insurance protection or they may face a fine.

Some experts are worried people will not be able to afford the rising premiums of health insurance, but others say the Affordable Care Act will actually help bring down the cost of health insurance. If more people carry coverage, then the market may become more competitive and we may see prices go down. Not only could health insurance be more affordable, but there may be more variety and consumers may have an easier time finding a policy that fits their needs.

Another perk that is expected through health care reform, is that more people will carry health insurance, therefore more people will seek preventative care through their doctor. This could greatly reduce the amount of preventable diseases out there and improve the doctor-patient relationship significantly. Research also shows that people who visit the doctor regularly have longer life expectancies than those who do not. This is a tough topic and the debate is not likely to go away anytime soon, if ever. We'll just need to sit back and see what actually happens as Americans are forced to find health insurance coverage for them and their families.

Medicare Safe From First Round Cuts

Many Americans are concerned about how the major cuts Congress plans on implementing are going to affect their health insurance. Cuts are going to be made in many areas throughout the nation, but the article "Students, Seniors May Feel Impact of Debt Deal" by Sandra Block from USA Today says that Medicare health insurance and social security are safe from the first round of cuts being made.

This doesn't automatically mean cuts will never be made, just probably not right now. Seniors will still feel some of the effects from major cuts throughout the industry. Some effects may be felt for those using care-giving services, nutrition counseling, and those relying on the government to help them find employment.

Seniors will still be receiving their social security checks though and this is huge. Relief has been felt across the board as Congress made a decision on the nation's debt problem. The debt is still there and cuts will continue so time will tell how this will ultimately affect health insurance for seniors and their overall finances.

Employer-Based Health Insurance Threatened

Employer-based health insurance has been a very common way for American's to carry quality health insurance benefits. Not only is it cheaper, but benefits and co-payments are often negotiated so ensure employees are getting a great deal. Health care reform has pros and cons as many would agree, but one concern experts have is what is going to happen to employer-based health insurance over time?

The Obama administration estimates that over 14 million Americans could lose their health insurance coverage through their employers over the next eight years according to US Representative John Barrasso's article on JuneauEmpire.com. The article "Watch for Dramatic Declines in Employer-Provided Health Insurance" says a McKinsey & Company study found that approximately 30% of employers will stop offering health insurance to their employees by 2014. This could devastate millions of families as they struggle to find affordable individual health insurance.

Ideally, the cost of individual health insurance will be managed through other aspects of health care reform, but it's hard to tell at this point what effect will be made by all of these changes. The Obama administration has already handed out waivers to 3 million Americans allowing them to opt out of the health insurance mandate. Most people will still be required to carry coverage or they will face a fine. Hopefully the estimates of how many employers will drop coverage are off and more companies will choose to keep protection for their workers.

New York Auto Insurance Fraud

New York auto insurance fraud has been a problem for many years and some legislators were hoping for a new law to help this problem. One reform type was left out according to the article "NY Lawmakers Fell Short on Auto Insurance Fraud" by Rafe Lieber on MPNNow.com. This reform involved passage of the "Fraud Tax Bill" which would have helped lessen the amount of high level fraud throughout the state of New York.

The article points out that New Yorkers pay on average 53% more for auto insurance rates than the rest of the nation and this is partly due to the no-fault auto accident policy. Research shows that approximately $1 billion has been stolen from the state in the last five years because of organized auto insurance fraud groups that stage accidents and run up bills with the help of participating physicians. New York lawmakers did not pass the bill this year, but this doesn't mean it won't happen eventually.

There is a possibility that the New York legislature will get together again before the end of 2011 to discuss other options. The state hasn't been passing bills including "Alice's Bill" which many consider to be common sense. This bill would make staging an accident in New York a standalone crime in hopes of making punishment harsher. Alice was a New York resident who was killed during a staged accident which shows the severity of this awful crime. Hopefully New York will work towards making it harder for criminals to commit serious auto insurance fraud.

Health Insurance Needs to Cover More Dental

Health care and health insurance in America continues to be a hot topic throughout the nation. It's too expensive, not comprehensive enough, and there's a lot of inconsistency. Health care reform hopes to fix some of these issues, but it's going to be years before that is fully implemented and Americans start feeling the effects of the changes. One thing that needs to change sooner than later is access to quality dental care. The article found on the LA Times by Jenny Gold about improving dental care says that 4.6 million children did not visit the dentist in 2008 because their family could not afford the cost. And about 60% of retired people did not have dental coverage even if they had Medicare. These numbers are not acceptable, and hopefully through reform they will improve.

Until then, advocates of dental care are working to make quality services readily available to needy patients. The Institute of Medicine is offering up some new ideas to get the ball rolling and make dental coverage a reality for more Americans. One idea is to encourage more dental students from minority, low-income areas. They also suggest investigating the expansion of Medicaid to cover more adults rather than just children. And by increasing reimbursement rates for dentists, research shows more children will get teeth cleanings based on a report completed by Sandra Decker of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the Journal of the American Medical Association. These may seem like minor efforts, but this is what we need to move in the right direction and truly improve dental care in America. Health insurance is far from perfect and we should always be making strides to try and improve policies and procedures.

GM Including Auto Insurance in Car Purchase

With car sales still remaining flat, GM has come up with an innovative way to attract customers. In Oregon and California, GM is offering a free, one year auto insurance policy with the purchase of one of their new cars. The deal is limited to 2010, 2011, and 2012 Buick, GMC, Chevrolet and Cadillac cars and crossovers. Currently it doesn't have used car insurance for their older cars as part of the deal.

GM believes this is a effective way to stay competitive in this flat market. According to the article on USA Today by Chris Woodyard, the policy will be completely free and offered through MetLife Auto Insurance. GM hopes to attract customers who are looking to save money and also save time searching the internet for auto insurance quotes.

MetLife Auto will be including the quality policy with liability and physical damage coverage for a full year. The policy will cover the person who purchased the car and whoever drives the car with the owner's permission. The offer is only good until September 6, 2011, so if you live in California or Oregon this is a great opportunity to save hundreds of dollars on a free auto insurance policy for a full year.

Columbus Auto Insurer Opens Large KY Center

The Columbus auto insurance company, Safe Auto, recently opened up a 20,000 square foot call center in Somerset, Kentucky which is south of Lexington. Safe Auto is expanding the call center to support future growth and had construction under way since November. They now have doubled the size of the call center operation according to the article "Safe Auto Opens Larger KY Call Center" from Business First found on bizjournals.com.

This customer service center in Somerset went from employing 48 people to 83 with the opening of the new facility. The center was designed to accommodate up to 250 employees which tells you the kind of growth Safe Auto is looking to have. This family owned business sells auto insurance in 16 states throughout the nation with its headquarters out of Columbus, Ohio. The company is doing well as they expand their customer service departments to meet customer need.