It's funny because it's true

Our friend Rick B sends us the link to this satirical(?) piece on modern health "care:"

"Supreme Court Allows Victims Of Heart Disease, Obesity To Sue Utensil Manufacturer"

He points out that there are some very real issues at play here:

"I know this is a joke but interesting idea for a blog post. Who is responsible for us?"

A most cromulent quesiton, no?

#Medicaid4All

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404Care.gov Enrollment: Week 2 Results

Hunh:

[click to embiggen]

Let's see how that compares to last week.

[ed: recall that week one comprised but 2 days]

Plan Selections were up an average of 23%/day, and the number of New Consumers also increased (by about 15%/day). Current policyholders renewing coverage were up by almost 25%.

On the other hand, Window Shoppers fell an incredible 57% per day (to be fair, not sure that's meaningful, yet).

Interesting, no?

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Outstanding Agent Tricks

This is so cool:

"Quick-thinking hunters in central Michigan have rescued two deer who literally became locked in battle."

And Insurance Agent Mark Johnson saves the day.

Kudos!

[Hat Tip: Ace of Spades]

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Global Underwriting Update

From our friends at Global Underwriters:

"Each year the number of people traveling for business purposes is astonishing. The Global Business Travel Association counts over 488 million trips taken annually. Each year business travelers take an average of 12 trips, typically lasting at least 5 days. An estimated 1.3 million business trips occur daily in the U.S. alone. These figures are expected to grow another 7% this year.

Even with video/web conferencing, online meetings, and daily conference calls business travel continues to increase and is vital to the success of your clients company. Hectic schedules, missed flights, transportation issues, and hotel problems are the least of the employees' worries. Many employees are citing concerns related to personal security, terrorism, political unrest and infectious disease epidemics. 

It's also crucial that companies and organizations embrace Duty of Care obligations and take the necessary steps to reduce potential dangers or problems that could occur while their employees travel. Employers need to have a well communicated plan in place and part of this plan is providing Business Travel Accident (BTA) insurance for their employees. BTA insurance is an inexpensive benefit that supplements any employee benefit program. This World Class Protection is designed to offset the risk and potential loss of a key employee(s) and to compensate families of employees for their loss of income due to accidental death or permanent disability of a loved one."

If international business travel is on your itinerary, this is must-have info.

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The Correct Words

LTCi in the news

Fresh off the presses:

Just Released: 2020 LTC insurance premium deduction and tax-free benefit increases! https://t.co/GFpR5KIDrX pic.twitter.com/9viLCFMYY1

— Bill Comfort, CLTC® (@comfortltc) November 7, 2019

Potential good news for folks considering an LTCi purchase.

Not sure about timing? Well, consider this timeless post from our friend Herman Bruns:

"As more and more baby boomers become aware of the devastating financial and emotional effects that a long term care need can have on their family, the average age at which people purchase LTC insurance has been steadily dropping every year."

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A Tale of Two Networks

For plan year 2020, history repeats:

"The other issue is that, at least in Ohio in 2019, all plans are built on an HMO chassis, which means basically zero out-of-network coverage."

One way carriers have found to reduce their costs has been to offer ever-shrinking networks. For some, this isn't an issue, but for many, who have longstanding relationships with their current providers, this can be a problem.

Take, for instance, Larry: he's a long-time client, lives up in the Cleveland area (Geauga County). As with most of the state, almost all of the plans available on the 404Care.gov site are offered by erstwhile Medicaid carriers, with two notable exceptions: Medical Mutual and new kid in town Oscar Health.

Larry's in his late 50's, and has some medical issues that make the Guaranteed Issue/Pre-ex coverage available on ACA plans attractive. He also has some specific doc's that he likes, including some at Cleveland Clinic.

Now, it turns out that The Clinic is in-network for only one carrier here: Oscar. And the question arises, how much is that relationship worth, in actual dollars? I have long wondered this, but until now had no way to quantify it.

Now, I can, and it's breathtaking:

[click to embiggen]

The  plan on the left is from CareSource (one of the aforementioned "Medicaid carriers") and the one on the right is from Oscar. The only substantive difference other than the fact that the latter actually has higher potential out of pocket exposure) is that Oscar includes the Cleveland Clinic, and CareSource does not.

So, is The Clinic worth $3,600 a year?

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