Personal professional enrollment support is available for all of the benefit plans listed on this page. Send your question by e-mail for fast OnlineAdviser response.   Most Liberal Eligibility Health plans for diabetics - a listing of the health plan options and other resources Core Health Insurance - the nation's most popular defined benefit health plans with guaranteed acceptance from US Fire Insurance Company Value 24 Hour Accident - up to $10,000 of supplemental health insurance coverage for emergency treatment of injuries at a cost of about $2 per day. Can be used as a stand-alone coverage or added to other insurance. Value Emergency Room - add $1,000 additional emergency room coverage for $1 per day for the whole family Most Affordable Secure Lite STM Secure Saver STM - $2 million maximum coverage for 1-12 months at an ultra-low rate Value Med Insurance - 3 question simple medical eligibility and immediate approval for supplemental doctor and hospital benefits Long Term Major Medical Celticare - well-known renewable individual major medical insurance for discriminating healthy applicants Celtic Basic Health Insurance - a trim version of Celticare at a lower price UnitedHealthcare - Golden Rule Insurance, a member of America's largest health plan Dental Insurance Secure DentalOne - one lifetime deductible of $100 and then up to $1,250 per year coverage UnitedHealthOne Dental & Vision - national PPO network of more than 73,000 providers Online Life Insurance Great Start Child Life Insurance - inexpensive permanent insurance that can be gifted by parents and grandparents Guarantee Trust term life Insurance - fast, easy and inexpensive online term insurance coverage up to $250,000 International Term Life - up to $2 million coverage issued by Lloyds online specifically for those who spend time outside of the US Smart term life insurance - up to $500,000 coverage directly online without an exam or blood test QuoteIntelligence Term life insurance - find the lowest rates, compare features & eligibility requirements and then apply online with the best insurance companies in less than 30 seconds.

Arkansas individual health insurance exchange Arkansas has more than 10 commercial health insurance companies that offer individual coverage as well as a state-sponsored children's health insurance plan administered by Blue Cross Blue Shield Association and a Comprehensive Health Insurance Plan. These standard policies may be more expensive than some residents can afford. This Web page lists some of the most popular low cost commercial health insurance plans and related benefits. All of these products offer secure online enrollment and professional OnlineAdviser personal enrollment support. Please note that while many of these choices could be included in more than one of the suggested usage categories, each plan is listed only once for the sake of brevity. Your enrollment adviser is available to discuss suitability of any plan for your specific situation. Arkansas insurance & benefit news Arkansas had the 8th lowest health insurance costs of all states in 2008 with an average family premium of $11,220 per year. (The average annual premium for a U.S. family covered under an employer-sponsored health plan in 2008 was $12,298 according to The Commonwealth Fund report. The overall quality of health care ranked 48th out of the 51 states (including DC). Arkansas regulates the benefits required for both individual major medical and group health insurance plans, known as "mandated benefits". Examples are infertility treatment and diabetic supplies. Short Term Insurance Celtic Insurance - competitive rates from a well-known insurer Markel Smart STM - popular and affordable short term major medical insurance with fast online approval Secure STM - along with its 12 month and 36 month options, this may be the highest quality short term coverage Intermediate Term Inbound Immigrant - up to five years of liberal health insurance coverage after immigration including maternity coverage, emergency and other essential benefits Supplemental Insurance Smart Accident Insurance - supplemental coverage for emergency treatment of accidents and injuries for as little as $20 per month. Can be used as a stand-alone accident plan or to increase other insurance benefits. Value Access Guarantee - everyone qualifies for this plan that pays in addition to any other insurance Arkansas insurance law and regulation The Arkansas Insurance Department Web site contains very little information about individual health insurance and is not a significant resource for individuals shopping for insurance exchange. The department Web site does contain information about procedures for filing consumer complaints. The Arkansas Comprehensive high risk health insurance pool is available regardless of medical history. Without proof of prior coverage, a 12 month waiting period applies before pre-existing medical conditions are covered. The state insurance department's consumer assistance program can be reached by telephone at 855-332-2227, by email at  Insurance.Consumers@arkansas.gov or by mail at 1200 West Third Street, Little Rock AR 72201. The state children's health insurance plan (CHIP) Web site is Arkansas ARKids First. Small business plans Freedom Benefits offers assistance with customized group health plan design and administration, cost management, insurance and self-funded options for as little as $150 per employee.  More information... Non-insurance Discount Plans Careington PPO Discount Plans - the nation's leading network PPO discount provider allows a no-risk trial of any discount plan for only a $20 processing fee Drug Card America - a free prescription drug card that an be used nationwide Essential Dental Solutions - simple, inexpensive, no waiting period, up to $500 treatment per year Rx Pay Card - $10, $20, or $30 payments for hundreds of popular prescriptions. See International Coverage and Travel Insurance Listings

Arkansas Insurance News

2/1/2012 The Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight, a division of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) reported that as of June 30, 2011 Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield, QCA Health Plan and HMO Partners, Inc. are the state's largest health insurance providers and as such, earn the right to set the benchmark for the development of the state's essential benefit plans to debut in 2014 under health reform law.

10/17/2011 Child-only individual health insurance policies are now available on a guaranteed-issue basis without any limitations or exclusions based upon the applicant's health status. Most lower cost polies are not covered by the law.

3/4/2011 Coverage for autism was expanded but the law does not apply to basic types of insurance within the insurance exchange.

3/1/2011 Mercy Health Plan terminates coverage for all Arkansas individual policyholders on March 15. Other immediate issue short term major medical policies are available to those who do not already have alternative coverage. There are currently ten other commercial companies that offer alternative individual major medical coverage in Arkansas: Arkansas Blue Cross Blue Shield, Assurant Health, Celtic Insurance Company, CoventryOne, Empire Fire and Marine Insurance Company, Golden Rule Insurance Company, Freedom Life Insurance Company of America, United Security Life & Health Insurance Company of Illinois, World Insurance Company. Several additional companies listed in the section above offer limited benefit policies. Application and approval times vary from one day to several weeks. OnlineAdviser offers telephone and email support to help find a suitable alternate coverage.

CHIP eligibility - Individuals  not eligible for any of the above options may qualify for CHIP coverage if they are currently residents of Arkansas, have been residents of Arkansas for at least 90 days and present evidence to the Administrator of: a. a notice of rejection or refusal by an insurer to issue substantially similar individual health insurance coverage by reason of the existence or history of a medical condition; or b. a refusal by an insurer to issue individual health insurance coverage except at a rate substantially in excess of (at least 50% greater than) the applicable premium rate under a comparable CHIP Policy;

2/12/2011 With dozens of health plans choices available online offering a wide range of pricing and benefits, how do you find the best combination of price and benefits? Celtic Insurance realizes that the choices can be overwhelming; the company offers more than 40 possible health plan designs in many parts of the United States. A new feature called "Help Me Choose" lets users easily and quickly select the benefits they value most and narrows the list down to a few of the best choices. No personal information is required other than zip code and date of birth.

12/28/2010 The state's pre-existing condition insurance plan attracted only 33 Arkansas residents this year despite the government-subsidized premiums. This plan provides a health coverage option for consumers who have been uninsured for at least six months, have a pre-existing condition or have been denied health coverage because of their health condition, and are a U.S. citizen or are residing here legally. The federal government pays most of the premium cost. The plan was initially criticized for excessive taxpayer costs but the overall lack of public interest in this insurance was not anticipated. 

12/16/2010 Arkansas Insurance Department officials met representatives of 44 other states and numerous employees of the federal Health and Human Services Department in Washington DC this week for a two-day working meeting to discuss the next steps in establish a government-run health insurance exchange under the American Health Benefit Exchange Model Act. Their attendance at this meeting was paid for by a $1 million federal grant awarded by HHS in September to the state for research how to set up an insurance exchange. Two states (Alaska and Minnesota) declined to participate, saying that it was a waste of taxpayer money. Four other states (not identified in press reports) that received federal grants did not send representatives to the meeting. Attendees included representatives of 16 states that are suing the federal government in an attempt to overturn the federal health reform law; specifically the requirement that forces individuals to buy health insurance on the insurance exchange or pay a hefty tax fine.

In its initial federal grant request for the insurance exchange project, Arkansas said that: it would: 1) Guided the planning process by principles of consumer protection, stakeholder inclusion, integrated systems, quality, and cost-efficiency, 2) Create an interagency executive planning team, 3) Secure assistance with research and analyses that will allow Arkansas to make informed planning decisions, 4) Create a final report which will include recommendations about a) Governance and administrator of the Arkansas Exchange, b) Policy/regulatory needs including benefit standards, incentives, reporting, and monitoring requirements, c) Existing technology and infrastructure to support Exchange operations, d) Methods and costs for integrating Exchange eligibility and enrollment processes with those for Medicaid and other emerging health reform initiatives.

The meeting reportedly did not address the role of the commercial health insurance exchanges on the implementation of new competing government systems. The model act does not address inter-state insurance exchange proposals nor insurance sales across state lines. Federal officials admitted that they may not be able to provide further guidance until 2012. Meanwhile, most states are motivated to continue to meet requirements to obtain additional funding promised by the federal government for the establishment of insurance exchange by 2014. Freedom Benefits has previously voiced the opinion that the huge amount of money being spent to set up alternate insurance sales system technologies could be better used providing health benefits to the public. We proposed on the Universal Health Insurance blog that adequate commercial insurance sales systems are already in place that could be modified in a public/private partnership to make health insurance more affordable.

5/10/2010 Diabetes Coverage: A new resource to help with health insurance for diabetics in Arkansas is available