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 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. Most Affordable Secure Saver STM - $2 million maximum coverage for 1-12 months at an ultra-low rate 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.

Kansas individual health insurance exchange Kansas is an early innovator of health insurance exchange technology with 20 commercial health insurance companies that issue individual major medical insurance and 22 companies that issue small group insurance as well as state-sponsored high risk pool health plan called the Kansas Health Insurance Association for residents who have been declined for commercial coverage due to pre-existing medical conditions. 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. Kansas insurance & benefit news Kansas had the 19th lowest health insurance costs of all states in 2008 with an average family premium of $11,506 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 23rd out of the 51 states (including DC). Kansas 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 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. Kansas insurance law and regulation The Kansas Department of Insurance Web site contains help sections for each type of insurance including a section on financially assisted health plans and Medicaid.  The Web site has not yet developed resources 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 state insurance department can be reached by telephone at (785) 296-3071 or by mail at 420 SW 9th Street, Topeka KS 66612. The state children's health insurance plan (CHIP) Web site is Kansas Health Wave. 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

Kansas 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 Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas 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.

10/17/2011 State law H 2075 enacted 8/10/2011 requires health insurance policies sold on the insurance exchange to exclude elective abortions in the basic coverage and provides such coverage shall only be through an optional rider.

8/11/2011 Kansas Governor Sam Brownback announced that the state is giving a $31.5 million health insurance exchange “early innovator” grant back to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Kansas does not believe that the federal government will follow through on its promise of funding health care reform through the insurance exchange. About half of the 50 states were previously expected to allow the federal government to run their health insurance exchange while the other half of the states will operate their own. Now other states may be reconsidering their reliance on the federal government to fund the launch of their insurance exchange especially in the wake of the federal deficit debt deal this month.

5/24/2011 Kansas is likely to become the 28th state to join in a lawsuit against the federal government in opposition to the federal health reform laws passed in 2010.

2/17/2011 The Kansas Health Policy Authority was granted more than $31 million by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to extend the new Kansas Medicaid/CHIP eligibility system and integrate this program with the Kansas Health Insurance Exchange. The State of Kansas is in preliminary discussions with the State of Missouri to partner on an exchange.

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.

12/16/2010 Kansas Department of Insurance 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, Kansas said that it would: 1) Assess the health benefits Exchange function, its market potential and identified gaps that could impede viability, 2) Initiate an inclusive statewide planning and communications function to foster input and participation, 3) Appoint an advisory panel and work groups to coordinate efforts and identify options, 4) Design an Exchange model with business rules and a supporting actuarial basis for a viable set of plans and benefits, 5) Begin drafting an Exchange charter, governing structure, by-laws, and set of accountabilities, 6) Address all major financial factors and cost drivers impacting the viability of an Exchange, and 7) Discuss infrastructure elements of the Exchange including information technology. More recently, Insurance Commissioner Sandy Praeger expressed concerns about the exchange proposal, citing that only 121 individuals have enrolled in the state-sponsored high risk health insurance plan out of the estimated half million Kansas residents without health insurance.

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 Kansas 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.