| Temporary | Supplemental | Travel | HSA | Major
Medical | Life | Dental | Ancillary | International |
Group | Individual | Accident | Mini-medical | High
deductible | Emergency | Critical Illness | Prescription
| PPO | Guaranteed Issue | Pre-existing Condition
|
Hawaii Insurance News2/1/2012 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 Hawaii Medical Service Association, Kaiser Foundation Health Plan and Hawaii Medical Service Association 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. 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. 12/16/2010 Hawaii Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs 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 Commerce and Consumer Affairs said that it would: 1) Conduct background research on the issues related to developing an Exchange, 2) Involve stakeholders in the planning process, 3) Examine integration of the Exchange with existing programs, 4) Assess resource capabilities, 5) Consider the appropriate governance mechanism, 6) Determine appropriate accounting and reporting guidelines, 7) Determine appropriate technical infrastructure, 8) Research business operations including implementation issues, 9) Examine regulatory and policy aspects, and 10) Appoint a task force to discuss the issues concerning implementation of an Exchange and receive and process comments from the public. 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 Hawaii is now available at Freedom Benefits. |

Opinions expressed are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Freedom Benefits Association or any other person, company or entity mentioned. Information is from sources believed to be true, but cannot be guaranteed.