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The Obama administration issued a final rule Wednesday that mental health care is included in the “essential health benefits” that must be covered by most health insurance plans beginning. It’s a move that could bring mental health care access to an additional 32 million people in 2014, the administration says. More
More companies and private insurance plans are implementing or seriously considering “selling health insurance by the pound,” as MarketWatch puts it — making workers with high BMIs and chronic conditions like high blood pressure and cholesterol pay extra for health care coverage. More
Who knew one of the last bastions of paranoid, reactionary religious wingnuttery in corporate America was the discount craft-goods emporium known as Hobby Lobby? The retailer has announced it will stick it to the heathen health care law proponents by refusing to offer employees health insurance that covers emergency contraception. More
When the Affordable Care Act passed, we all rejoiced over what Obamacare would mean for women: Free birth control? Free annual doctor’s visits? Free maternal health care? Hell, yes. Only…if you’re already on insurance, figuring out how to take advantage of the new mandates is confusing, and there isn’t a universal start date for women’s preventive services perks on every insurance plan. Which is why we’re pretty stoked on the National Women’s Law Center‘s complete guide to finding out if your insurance covers free birth control and other women’s preventive care. More
If you’re wondering what Obamacare means for you, you’re not alone; since the Supreme Court announced its support of the Affordable Care Act this morning, reactions have been firing from all corners of the internet, but many are still wondering what this means for their own health insurance costs and coverage. More
A new study from the Commonwealth Fund found that one-third of young adults ages 19-29 were struggling with medical bills or debt. The study also found that about 40% of young adults did not have health insurance at some point in 2011. While the stats aren’t really surprising, it’s becoming more and more clear that young people need to make healthcare a priority, stat. More
Women pay more for health insurance than men, because of a practice called “gender rating” that lets insurers charge women more for coverage. A new report from the National Women’s Law Center found even women in good health often get charged more than male counterparts. Collectively, discriminatory health insurance practices cost American women $1 billion more per year than men. More
When choosing between brand-name and generic, most of us are considering price and doctor recommendations. But what most of us don’t realize is that it will make the difference between winning and losing, if your drugs end up causing complications that lead you to take their manufacturers to court. According to the New York Times, dozens of lawsuits have been lost because the makers of generic pharmaceuticals aren’t held accountable for their drug labels. Times author Katie Thomas emphasizes how scary this is for people who’ve been debilitated because of insufficient warning on drugs, but what she doesn’t mention is how this could make health care even more difficult to navigate—and expensive—for the rest of us, too. More
Birth control costs have been the subject of huge debate over the past couple of weeks; a lot of people don’t think women “sluts” deserve any help financing the logistics of family planning. Meanwhile, men are getting all kinds of encouragement to exercise their right to kid-free sex, including free pizza! A Cape Cod clinic is offering men a free pizza with their vasectomy, capitalizing on the fact that March is apparently the most popular time of year for men to exercise their reproductive rights. Other clinics have also taken the same marketing slant, suggesting that men get it done now so that they watch March Madness “guilt-free.” More
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If you want proof that the prescription drug industry is serious business, just check out the Twitter feeds of Walgreen and Express Scripts for a rare view of public fighting between two of the country’s largest health care companies. Their failure to reach an agreement on drug prices have made it impossible for millions of Americans to get a prescription filled at Walgreen. More
Last week, I was talking to my mom about why I wasn’t on the pill—a subject she she feels periodically entitled to bring up—when she said: ‘Well, just don’t get pregnant right now. You don’t have health insurance, and pregnancy is a preexisting condition, you know?‘ I did not know. But it turns out, in only 17 states can a mother-to-be to buy health insurance with pregnancy and childbirth coverage included, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer. In many states, it’s difficult for an uninsured pregnant woman to find individual health insurance coverage at all. More
Former Playboy covergirl Holly Madison insured her breasts for $1 million, which might seem vain or trite, but she argues that it’s a smart career move, since she’d be out of work and money ‘if something happened to them.’ Lloyd’s of London granted her request, as they’ve done with Rihanna‘s legs and other celebrity body parts. But what if you or I wanted to insure the extremities most essential to our work? My fingers don’t exactly rake in millions, but without them I’d have a really hard time making a living in my career. It turns out that for those of us who don’t need the PR, the best way to stay protected is to make sure we have disability coverage. More
Jeanene Harlick, 37, was at 65% her ideal body weight and needed a feeding tube, but her insurance company wouldn’t cover inpatient care at an eating disorder facility. Harlick lives in California, which has one of the nation’s strongest mental health parity laws—laws that say insurance companies must provide the same coverage for mental illness as they do for physical illness). So she sued—and won, for now; the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco just said that her insurance company, Blue Shield of California, must pay for her residential care. The ruling could make a difference in how insurers in other states cover mental health treatment, too. More
United Healthcare, Aetna, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Walgreens…If one of these things looks unlike the others to you, just give it a little time: The newest player in the private health insurance market could be the drugstore chain. According to CNN, Walgreens plans to sell health insurance plans nationally, and across a variety of price ranges and coverage levels, through a private insurance exchange. There’s been no official word on this yet from the company, but a spokesperson told CNN that Walgreens was “looking at a number of options…to seek ways to help customers better navigate today’s health care system.” More
