Carriers in the health insurance sector are in a race to win Medicare Advantage market share and the fastest way of achieving the target by acquiring a company in the same business.
Source: Health Insurers Shine in Obamacare Era – June 26, 2015 – Zacks.com
Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield’s Parent Company Proposes to Acquire Cigna CorporationJune 24, 2015On Saturday, June 20, Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield’s parent company announced that it has submitted a non-binding proposal to acquire Cigna Corporation (NYSE: CI) for $184 per share in cash and stock. The proposed combination would create a premier global healt
Source: Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield
This second report in the series Medicare at 50 Years describes how the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is strengthening the program for current and future beneficiaries and outlines the major challenges that policymakers have yet to confront. Certain ACA reforms have the potential to reshape not just the Medicare program but the entire U.S. health care system, the authors say.
As Medicare prepares to mark its 50th anniversary in July 2015, there is a lot to celebrate. For 50 years, Medicare has accomplished its two key goals: ensure access to health care for its elderly and disabled beneficiaries, and protect them against the financial hardship of health care costs.
Source: Medicare: 50 Years of Ensuring Coverage and Care – The Commonwealth Fund
Are you receiving your Medicare benefits through a MedicareAdvantage PPO or HMO plan, OR, an “on-exchange”/”off-exchange” Obamacare or legacy healthcare plan? If so, be sure to do the following when seeing any doctor for the first time.
At the front desk or with your doctor’s billing representative, show your MedicareAdvantage membership card (from Humana or Anthem BC/BS or other) and ask them if they can verify that they are “in-network” for your plan. Do NOT ask them if they take your plan. Inevitably they will nearly always say they will “take your insurance and file it” for you.
This does not mean that they are in-network and could cause you to have higher copays, and/or you may not even be covered for the visit.
What you need to know is if your doctors are “in-network”. That is the key.
