The United Nations recently did a health study which clearly linked the bad health problems of developed nations to those in poorer nations.  The differences in the developed countries’ diets and lifestyles have transferred to the poorer nations, according to Reuters’ Kate Kelland.  In the article, “WHO warns of high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity,” it says that one out of every three adults around the world is suffering from high blood pressure.  This high blood pressure causes half of the deaths related to heart disease and stroke.  Some countries in Africa actually have half of their adult population suffering from high blood pressure.

In a World Health Organization (WHO) study, they found that one out of every ten adults in the world is diabetic.  Not only does diabetes affect the health and life of those suffering from it, it costs billions of dollars each year in medical care and treatments.  This means that health insurance rates will be higher not only for diabetics, but for everyone as health insurance companies have to pass their increasing costs on to consumers.

Traditionally, people think that most cases of diabetes, heart disease, and cancer happen in wealthy countries because we eat high fat diets, smoke, and drink more alcohol.  But 80% of the deaths from these chronic diseases occur in low and middle income countries.  They obviously don’t have the health care opportunities that exist in most of the wealthier nations, but this shows how much more prevalent these chronic conditions are now in low and middle income countries.  They have seen increases in smoking as well as more Westernized diets and less exercise in recent years.

Low cost drugs and an increase in diagnosis of high blood pressure has reduced the deaths from this condition in wealthy countries, but those things haven’t been available in lower income countries.  Obesity is another worldwide chronic health condition on the rise.  From 1980 to 2008, obesity rates doubled in every region in the world.  Twelve percent of the overall world population is obese, another cause of higher health insurance rates.  Americans are the worst with 26% of the population being obese, while only 3% of the Asian population suffers from obesity.  Now that we know this information, it is up to health insurance companies and governments to figure out what to do with it.

While high deductible or personal savings account health insurance plans are not new, they are very trendy right now and the number of workplaces offering such plans is increasing.  This information comes from the Yahoo! Health article “Study: Savings and risk in health insurance trend,” by Ricardo Alonso-Zalidivar.  When President George W. Bush was in office, he promoted what he called health savings accounts hoping that having Americans more involved in their health insurance would lead to lower costs.  These plans have stayed around since then, even though there are more often called consumer-directed plans now.  Employers save money when their employees enroll is this type of plan.  Currently, one out of every six workers is using a consumer-directed health insurance plan.

Compare health insurance rates for consumer-directed plans and the premiums are much lower than with traditional health insurance plans.  In exchange for lower premiums, deductibles that have to be met yearly are much higher.  Employers help contribute to medical accounts with tax savings to help offset the added deductible expenses.  These consumer-directed plans can help employers save billions of dollars on their health care costs.  But some worry that there are added risks to overall American health, which could lead to an unfortunate increase in health care costs overall.

There is concern that higher deductibles will keep moderately healthy people away from the doctor until they get very sick because they have to pay so much to meet their deductibles.  While most preventative services are covered at no extra cost, it appears as though many people using consumer-directed plans didn’t know that and have skipped routine doctor visits.  If consumers cut too many of their preventative services, they may not be diagnosed with problems until it puts a serious strain on their health and overall health care costs.  For those using this type of health insurance plan, make sure you know all of the services covered without effecting your deductible.

Some people are worried that as more healthy people flock to consumer-directed plans, health insurance rates for traditional insurance plans will go up because most of the people need more medical care.  A recent study showed that health care savings could top $57 million if half of Americans moved to this lower cost type of plan.  Americans using less health care would account for 2/3 of the savings, with the rest coming from making less expensive health care decisions like using generic drugs.  This can be a great cost cutting health care solution for employers, Americans just need to make sure they are still seeking preventative care before getting seriously ill.

Most health insurance companies do not pay for fertility treatments, but they do insure any resulting baby under the parents’ plans.  Recent research out of Australia makes an interesting claim that could make health insurance companies wary of their members undergoing certain fertility treatments.  Yahoo! Health article “Fertility treatment babies prone to ‘serious defects’” says that Australian researchers have found a significant increase in serious birth defects for babies born through certain fertility treatments.  Serious defects for the purpose of this study included those that required treatment or handicapped the child, such as cerebral palsy.  While 5.8% of babies conceived naturally had serious birth defects, the number increased to 8.3% of babies conceived through certain fertility treatments.  The researchers believe this to be a very significant difference.

Researchers showed concern that the added risk for birth defects worldwide is not being discussed before fertility treatments.  Maybe it wouldn’t make a difference to the prospective parents, but there should be a discussion between doctors and patients just in case.  There is a different health risk associated with different fertility treatments.  Children conceived through IVF, in-vitro fertilization, had serious birth defects 7.2% of the time.  That number did decrease, however, when parents were younger, non-smokers, and had other ideal characteristics.  For ICSI, intracytoplasmic sperm injection, serious birth defects were seen 9.9% of the time.  This percentage did not change when taking other factors into consideration.  Readily available clomiphene citrate, used to induce ovulation, tripled the chances for serious birth defects.  Health insurance rates already take into consideration obesity, smoking, and other risk factors.  I wonder if they will increase rates for members undergoing fertility treatments just in case their babies end up having higher medical costs.

Passengers must have been pretty scared when their Delta flight landed in Chicago yesterday and was quarantined on the runway for hours.  According to Fox News article “Airplane quarantine scare reminds us we’re all at risk,” Dr. Manny Alvarez said that health and fire department officials from Chicago responded to the flight after concerns arose over a passenger’s rash.  Local officials said that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was handling the potential issue.  Luckily, the situation turned out to be nothing and passengers were able to exit their flight without the risk of a health scare following them.

This really makes us wonder what could happen on a plane flight if someone were carrying some type of contagious disease.  The article says that the issues most worrisome right now are chicken pox, scarlet fever, Parvovirus, Coxsackie viruses, Impitigo, and scabies.  Influenza and SARS are two other problems concerning the CDC.  Those who have any of these diseases should not fly on an airplane, but what can you do as a passenger?  Health insurance companies push vaccines for reasons like this.  Make sure that you and your family are vaccinated against any of the viruses and diseases that you can.  This will greatly reduce the risk that you’ll have to worry about catching something on a plane.  Otherwise, be aware of your surrounding passengers and report any rash or illness that seems highly questionable.

After reading this article by the AP, it’s no wonder that people are so irritated with America’s health care system.  In “Appendix removal: Huge sticker shock in study,” the AP’s Lindsey Tanner says that a recent study done in California found a crazy discrepancy between the cost of an appendix removal at different hospitals.  While some people paid around $1,500 to get their appendix removed, others actually paid $180,000.  Since you don’t have much of a choice in the treatment given to you when you come into the hospital ill, it really is disheartening to see that there are times when you can’t trust that you are being fairly charged.

Even though this study was performed in California, it is said to be an accurate representation of what is happening all over America.  When you are comparing the health insurance quotes from different companies, a basic surgery like the removal of an appendix is usually covered.  But with most health insurance plans, you have to pay something towards the cost of your hospital bills.  My plan requires me to pay 10% of hospital bills after I have met my yearly deductible.  A bill of $1,500 versus one of $180,000 for getting my appendix removed is the difference between my out of pocket costs being $150 or $18,000.  That is hard to even wrap my head around.

The cost differences were based on the length of the hospital stay, the type of procedure used, how many scans were done, and where the patient was treated geographically.  While it was easy to account for 2/3 of the discrepancies, 1/3 of them were not clear through the research.  The governments of other developed countries have stricter regulation on the charges that can be given for health care to keep it uniform.  Based on the health care costs in America, it is questionable whether traditional supply and demand laws really work as related to health care.  While I’m sure there were many legitimate reasons for a wide range in the cost of an appendix removal, it seems that some type of reform is necessary to ensure costs are fair and only necessary testing and work is done.

The Sacramento Association of Health Underwriters, also known as SAHU, holds a luncheon monthly and next week they have a special guest.  According to a CHOICE Administrators’ press release, CHOICE’S CEO will be speaking at SAHU’s April meeting.  CHOICE develops and runs health insurance exchanges throughout the United States and they are the leaders in their industry.  CEO Ron Goldstein will be talking about health insurance exchanges as the country looks to develop more of them to meet government changes.  Goldstein is in high demand for his extensive knowledge of health insurance exchanges and has over 10,000 employers using CHOICE Adminstrators.

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act gives states until January 1, 2014 to operate their own health insurance exchange or have the government run a default exchange for them.  These exchanges are meant to help Americans find better health insurance rates, especially when they were previously uninsured.  Over the past nine months, Goldstein has spoken with all but two states and plans to share his discussions at SAHU’s monthly meeting.  His leadership is unparalleled in the health insurance exchange industry and many states will likely use Goldstein’s recommendations when creating their own exchanges.  He also plans to talk about how brokers will work with the California Public Exchange and give tips for brokers regarding the changes to health insurance exchanges.

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida Inc. now has a new name, according to the Jacksonville Daily Record’s “BCBS is now Florida Blue.”  The company is changing their focus from simply being a health insurance company to more of a health solutions company, and they hope that the name Florida Blue will help with that transition.  They will remain a non-profit company owned by its policyholders and paying taxes as a mutual company.  Along with the new moniker Florida Blue, the company will have a new logo and use the tagline “In the pursuit of health.”  Both old customers and new consumers will begin seeing signage, ads, and even sponsorships almost immediately.

They are changing their business model from a focus solely on health insurance to one that is more multi-dimensional.  Many health insurance companies are realizing that a more comprehensive view on healthcare is a great way to eventually lower costs and make consumers healthier by focusing on healthy habits before they need health care for being sick.  Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida has been around for almost 70 years and is known for very personal service and a strong customer focus.  Programs like the affordable Go Blue Florida are likely to remain intact, possibly with some changes to focus even more on preventative health.

I just found a great article with infographics about how the Affordable Care Act will change your individual insurance situation.  Right now, the Supreme Court is hearing arguments against many facets of this health care reform act, which has now been in place for 2 years.  According to Yahoo! Finance’s Lisa Scherzer, there are 4 main complaints being discussed in the Supreme Court’s hearings.  In “How will the affordable care act affect you?,” Scherzer gives examples of how individuals and families will be affected.

The main issue being contested right now is whether or not the government even has the right to force Americans to purchase health insurance.  There is also question over whether the individual mandate can be contested now or if the opposition will have to wait until 2015 to fight against it.  The Anti-Injuction Act of 1867 says that you cannot fight against a tax before you have actually had to pay the tax.  So it’s possible that this mandate requiring everyone to purchase health insurance or be faced with a fine cannot actually be contested until it is in full effect.  Many people are wondering if the hundreds of mandates associated with the Affordable Care Act will become null and void if the individual mandate is declared unconstitutional.  There is also concern over whether states being forced to expand their Medicaid coverage or lose federal funding for it is violating their sovereignty.  There are lots of issues up for debate in the Supreme Court this week.

A 30-year old, healthy woman working full-time but without heath insurance is the first example given.  If the ACA takes effect, she will be able to purchase health insurance from a state health insurance exchange because her income is below 400% of the poverty level.  She would be able to get insurance for $85/month or risk paying a fine of $695/year starting in 2016.  Another example given is for a self-employed 62-year old man who is in poor health.  He currently cannot get health insurance because of his pre-existing heart condition, but cannot afford his health care bills or insurance on his $10,000/year salary.  Since his income is below 138% of the poverty level, he would be eligible for Medicaid should the ACA take effect.  A final example is for a healthy family of 4 who have health insurance through both of their full-time jobs.  While their health insurance will not change, their health insurance rates could increase because health insurance companies may be passing costs down.  There are many more examples in the original article of how Americans will be affected.

After the Department of Health and Human Services reviewed health insurance rate increases greater than 10%, they have determined that increase requests in 9 states are unreasonable.  According to a Department of HHS press release, Secretary Kathleen Sebelius says that the companies either have to reduce the rate increases, refund money to customers, or explain why they aren’t doing either of those things.  The Affordable Care Act now requires health insurance companies to justify any health insurance rate increases over 10%.  If they cannot do so, the increases will be deemed unreasonable by the government and the insurers will have to make some changes.

The HHS has been reviewing these requests for 6 months now and consumers will be happy to know that health insurance rate increases are on the decline.  Increases in premiums went down 4.5% in the last quarter of last year and Nevada health insurance rates actually went down.  The government has information on increase requests and other information pertaining to this law on their healthcare website.

The insurance companies whose rate requests were denied were requesting large health insurance premium increases in 9 different states.  This would effect 42,000 different people in Wyoming, Wisconsin, Virginia, Nebraska, Montana, Missouri, Louisiana, Idaho and Arizona.  Some of these rate increases would have been 24%, believe it or not.  But too low a percentage of the increases was actually going to pay for medical costs or improvements in quality, so they were deemed unreasonable.  Some states are already showing fewer requests for high rate increases and other states are jumping ahead of the game and purposefully lowering rate increase requests.  Check out the government healthcare website for specific information in your state or with your health insurance company.

By 2033, you will likely be paying more money for your health insurance premiums than your total annual income provides.  Jenifer Goodwin of Health Day wrote about an Annals of Family Medicine study in the article “Health Insurance Premiums Will Surpass Median Household Income in 2033: Study.”  They used data from 2000-2009 and found that health insurance rates increased 8%, while median incomes only increased by 2%.  By using those same rates to forecast the future, your health insurance premiums would be about half of your income by 2021 and would cost more than your total income by 2033.  The median income in 2009 was just under $50,000.

This study is using the total premium cost for calculations, which does include both the money you contribute as well an any employer contributions.  If you have individual health insurance from a company like Aultcare, you pay all of the premium costs yourself anyways.  It does not take into account any of your out-of-pocket costs for co-pays, deductibles, or prescriptions.  Adding co-pay costs into the equation and taking out employer contributions, health care costs would equal half of the median income by 2031.

In 2005, it was estimated that health insurance rates would be higher than median income by 2025, so there have been a few positive changes.  The Affordable Care Act of 2010 looks to decrease some costs.  Also, the economic recession is forcing many families to spend less money on their health care.  That may not be a good thing overall, but it does lower demand and therefore, healthcare costs.  There are many opinions as to what will help this seemingly dire situation and all of them require overhaul of the current practices.  Regardless of who pays for these health insurance premiums, we need to make changes to what is covered by health insurance and what can be done to minimize testing and treatment where it is unnecessary.