Health Insurance in Connecticut
Connecticut residents are looking for worthy health insurance plans that offer significant financial protection at a cost they can afford. Below is useful information.
There is a wide choice of quality health insurance plans for individuals and families from most of the leading health insurance companies in Connecticut like
Aetna, United Health One, Cigna, and Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, including Tonik health plans for individuals. The premiums for private medical insurance policies are all standardized and filed with the
Connecticut Insurance Department. This means all agencies must quote the same rates. It is suggested that private insurance holders review their policy rate every 18 months.
Connecticut also provides a high risk pool plan for the individuals and families without health insurance in Connecticut, through the Connecticut Health Reinsurance Association (HRA).
Health Insurance for Connecticut Groups and Small Businesses (2-50 employees); Medical underwriting is authorized in Connecticut. Charges are based on the community rate including age, gender, location, industry, group size, and family composition.
Connecticut offers COBRA, the Consolidate Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985. Many companies with 20 or more employees that provide health insurance are obligated to offer employees and their dependents continuation coverage for remuneration that were lost owing, for instance, to job loss, decrease in hours worked, death, or divorce.
Medicaid in Connecticut is a state/federal program that pays for medical and long-term care services for low-income pregnant women, children, certain people on Medicare, disabled persons and nursing home residents.
The Husky Plan is intended to assist all children who don’t have health insurance.
Others include; short term health insurance, student health insurance, and dental insurance
Companies for Health Insurance in Connecticut
Do you pay too much for family health insurance? Maybe it's time to Check Connecticut Health Insurance Quotes.
Hospitals in Connecticut
Bridgeport Hospital in Bridgeport; Danbury Hospital in Danbury; Greenwich Hospital in Greenwich; Norwalk Hospital in Norwalk; St. Vincent Hospital - Bridgeport; Stamford Hospital in Stamford; Bristol Hospital in Bristol; Connecticut Children's Medical Centre, St. Francis Hospital, and Hartford Hospital in Hartford; Hospital of Central Connecticut in New Britain, and Southington; John Dempsey in Farmington; Manchester Hospital in Manchester; Charlotte Hungerford Hospital in Torrington; New Milford Hospital in New Milford; Sharon Hospital in Sharon; Middlesex Hospital in Essex, Marlborough, and Middletown; Griffin Hospital in Derby; Mid-state Hospital in Meriden; Milford Hospital in Milford; St. Mary's Hospital, and Waterbury Hospital in Waterbury; St. Raphael's Hospital in New Haven; Yale New Haven Hospital in New Haven; Lawrence and Memorial Hospital in New London; William Backus Hospital in Norwich; Johnson Memorial Hospital in Stafford Springs; Rockville Hospital in Vernon; Windham Hospital in Willimantic; Day Kimball Hospital in Putnam.
Contract between hospitals and Blue Cross/Blue Shield close to expiring
Manatee County Blue Cross/Blue Shield clients may not have their insurance accepted at Manatee Memorial Hospital or Lakewood Ranch Medical Center. The contract between the hospitals and the insurance company expires at the end of the month.
It's a scary situation for the 23,000 people in Manatee County who have that insurance. Negotiations are still going on. Blue Cross/Blue Shield and the hospitals have been talking since April with no success, and the January 1st deadline is fast approaching.
Manatee Memorial Hospital and Lakewood Ranch Medical Center provide services you can't find any where else in Manatee County. "We're the only hospital that offers acute care hospital behavioral services, that offers pediatric services, that offers OB service, that offers neo-natal intensive care service. We're the only hospital that has the emergency services that we have," says Moody Chisholm, CEO of Manatee Health Systems.
But unless an agreement is reached, people with Blue Cross/Blue Shield insurance will have to go to another hospital after the first of the year. "Any PPO patients we will take care of. Any HMO patients we will assess. If it's an emergency situation, we'll take care of it here. If it's not, we'll have to transfer them to an appropriate facility," says Chisholm.
Chisholm says the sticking point is the hospital is asking Blue Cross/Blue Shield for a slight increase in fees. "We're not a greedy hospital. We are making an average rate increase request. We need that to be able to maintain the services in this community that we have a reputation for providing."
But Blue Cross/Blue Shield vice president Dr. Barry Schwartz issued this statement: "We must balance the value provided by the hospital against the absolute need to provide affordable health coverage to our members."
Chisholm says the increase they're asking for is less than 10%.
But Blue Cross says: "The demands of Manatee hospitals and health systems are inconsistent with network arrangements for comparable hospitals in the state."
Chisholm says costs at Manatee Memorial have skyrocketed with the bad economy. They're seeing a big increase in the number of indigent, Medicaid and charity cases, and operating costs for medicine and equipment are also going up. He hopes the partnership with Blue Cross/Blue Shield can continue.
Blue Cross/Blue Shield still has a contract for patients at Blake Medical center in West Bradenton, and Doctor's hospital in Sarasota.
