Comparison Shopping For Medical Care

Have you ever wondered what it would be like if you could comparison shop for your medical costs?  When you go to buy a car, you spend $20,000 or $30,000, maybe even over $40,000.  The likelihood of you walking into the dealership and paying sticker without any questions is slim to nil. Yet, millions of Americans do just that with their healthcare every year.  Have you ever asked, “how much is the surgery going to cost?” or “how much exactly is the cat scan?”  Yet, these are procedures that can potentially cost upwards of tens of thousands of dollars and we have them performed at the directive of our physicians with no questions asked.
Once you have selected your insurance carrier and designed  your health plan, you hope the strength of the design is enough to deter over  utilization.  Employees are deciding where to go for treatment and surgery blindly.  Are they making the choice based on the cost to the employer’s insurance plan?  The answer is: not likely.  Consumers of health care services are not like most other consumers.  Employees do not, and in the past could not, compare prices before they bought.  In the past you could not find out a price for a diagnostic colonoscopy or a tonsilitomy.  Again, compare that decision to that of buying a car.
What if we could add to your program a service that allowed your employees to find out exactly what that cost would be up front?  Not only with one provider, but let’s say up to three?  How about if they compared three and then proceeded to schedule the appointment for your employees.  Imagine the time and money that could be saved.
If this is something of interest to you and your employees, contact us! We have the answers.
MedCon Benefit Systems Group, Inc.
214.739.5215
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Could The Debt Ceiling Bill Affect Health Insurance?

IF Congress happens to fail to make the $1.2 trillion in the required cuts, the end result is a mandatory across the board cuts. The cuts would make up the difference between what Congress saves and the $1.2 trillion. If reading between the lines, the cuts could ultimately affect what the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (better known as the PPACA), has set aside to help consumers and small business employers buy health coverage through the new health insurance exchange system set up to start in 2014.

Many items being considered for savings could all have significant impact on the future of healthcare. Stay tuned!

HealthCare Reform – What Changes Will Go Into Effect NOW?

You have no doubt been inundated with HealthCare Reform news- how the healthcare insurance landscape will see changes.  Most of what is being discussed, like employers paying penalties for not sponsoring a health plan is not effective until 2014.
So, what are the key changes you need to be dealing with NOW?
1.  Effective with renewals on or after September 23, 2010 plans that offer dependent coverage must extend that coverage to dependents up to their 26th birthday, even if they are married and not living at home, unless they are eligible for group coverage elsewhere.
2.  Insurance carriers can not deny claims on children (under the age of 19) related to pre-existing conditions, again for renewals on or after September 23, 2010.
3.  Health plans can not impose lifetime limits on the dollar value of coverage for plans that renew on or after September 23, 2010.
This is just a sample of some of the changes and impact of the HealthCare Reform, for more information check back or call us at 214/739-5215.