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 Pre-existing Condition Insurance Plan - a temporary government-sponsored plan available to citizens/residents who have  been uninsured for more than 6 months due to a pre-existing medical condition. 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 Basic Health Insurance - the least expensive plan in the exchange but also with the lowest level of benefits Secure Lite STM - the lowest priced major medical insurance for 1 to 12 months 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 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.

District of Columbia individual health insurance exchange Fourteen commercial insurance companies offer individual health insurance in Washington D.C. and 14 companies that issue small group insurance as well as the state-sponsored D.C. Health Alliance, CareFirst Blue Cross Blue Shield high risk plan and Medicaid plans offer coverage for low income or disabled residents. 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 policies 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. District of Columbia insurance & benefit news The District of Columbia had the 6th highest health insurance costs of all states in 2008, with an average family premium of $13,427 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 26th out of the 51 states (including DC). District of Columbia regulates the benefits required for both individual major medical and group health insurance plans, known as "mandated benefits". 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 District of Columbia insurance law and regulation The Department of Insurance, Securities and Banking regulates health insurance in Washington D.C. help sections for each type of insurance including a section on financially assisted health plans and Medicaid.  The Web site lists the insurers but has published little information to help individuals find commercial low cost health plans like mini-med or core coverage, specific illness policies, supplemental insurance and basic health insurance. The Department helps resolve consumer complaints about health insurance and provides a downloadable complaint form. The state insurance department can be reached by telephone at (202) 727-8000 or by mail at 810 First St., NE, Suite 701 Washington, DC 20002. The state children's health insurance plan (CHIP) Web site is DC Healthy Families. 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

DC 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 Cafefirst and UnitedHealthcare 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.

7/27/2011 Parents are reminded that the children's' health insurance open enrollment period ends on Sunday July 31 so applications should be submitted online before that date. See www.uhcenrollment.com for details on the UnitedhealthOne insurance products or www.celticenrollment.com for information on Celtic Insurance individual health insurance plans.

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.

2/7/2011 The state's pre-exisitng condition insurance plan (PCIP) monthly premium rates (per person):

PCIP will cover a broad range of health benefits, including primary and specialty care, hospital care, and prescription drugs. All covered benefits are available for you, beginning on your coverage effective date, even if it’s to treat a pre-existing condition - there are no waiting periods. PCIP applicants who are approved to participate in PCIP can choose from three plan options, with different levels of premiums, calendar year deductibles, prescription deductibles and prescription copays. The HSA Option provides an opportunity to open a Health Savings Account, a tax-exempt account where you can deposit funds for eligible medical expenses. Each of the three PCIP plan options provides preventive care (paid at 100%, with no deductible) when you see an in-network doctor and the doctor indicates preventive diagnosis. Included are annual physicals, flu shots, routine mammograms and cancer screenings. For other care, you will pay a deductible before PCIP pays for your health care and prescriptions. After you pay the deductible, you will pay 20% of medical costs in-network. The maximum you will pay out-of-pocket for covered services in a calendar year is $5,950 in-network/$7,000 out-of-network. There is no lifetime maximum or cap on the amount the plan pays for your care. If you apply for PCIP coverage on the government Web site, you will be billed for the premium once your application is approved. You will need to send in your payment in order for your coverage to be effective. Please do not send in the premium before you are billed. Note that your premium may increase if you age into a higher rate tier, or if PCIP adjusts its premiums to any changes in the commercial market.

1/19/2011 Child-only health insurance for children with significant medical problems will be available through an open enrollment period mandated by federal state law during the months of January and July. All children, regardless of medical condition, continue to be eligible for insurance when applying as a dependent on a parent’s policy and healthy children are eligible for child-only insurance at any time. When applying for child-only insurance for more than one child, make a separate application for each child.

12/16/2010 Department of Health Care Finance 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, the Department of Health Care Finance said that it would: 1) Conduct research and assess the District’s insurance marketplace, identifying coverage gaps, 2) Identify requirements for Exchange implementation, 3) Conduct an analysis of the viability of available models, including cost-benefit analysis, 4) Identify potential Exchange partners, 5) Develop policy, operational, and infrastructure recommendations for implementing the Exchange and requisite modifications to the Medicaid and other related public programs, 6) Establish implementation timelines and work plans, and 7) Develop a final report summarizing information and findings resulting from the completion of grant activities.

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.

5/14/2010 Diabetes Coverage: A new resource to help find health insurance for diabetics in the District of Columbia is now available at Freedom Benefits.

11/12/2009 A new mandate requires individual and group health plans to provide coverage for orally administered chemotherapy medication in a manner no more restrictive than intravenously administered treatment or injected cancer medications.