Cheaper health insurance expected on LI Individuals moncler jackets on sale and small businesses on Long Island will have more and cheaper options for health insurance next year, nhl jerseys according to the state, which Wednesday released the plans to be offered. On Oct. 1, New York plans to open up its health insurance marketplace known as the health benefit exchange for lower cost health insurance as part of the federal Affordable Care Act. On Long Island, 13 companies will offer Moncler Down coats with zip Women all yellow plans for individuals. That s about four times the current number of insurers, and the cost will be much lower. The cheapest plan for an individual now costs about a $1,000 a month; under the insurance exchange plan New York Fidelis, a statewide government programs based insurer, will offer a lower cost plan for $284.50 monthly. BLOG: The Daily Apple PHOTOS: Dropping LBs DATA: Explore hospital moncler children s coats rankings Narcotics by community WEIGH IN: Ask your fitness questions "On average, the approved 2014 rates for even the highest tier of plans individual New York consumers could purchase on the exchange (gold and platinum) represent a 53 percent reduction compared to last year s direct pay individual rates," Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said in a news release. And many will qualify to receive subsidies that may lower rates even more. The tier system The plans, which would go into effect on Jan. 1, are organized in platinum, gold, silver and bronze tiers based on range of coverage, which should make it easier for New Yorkers to compare plans, Cuomo s office said. The state attributed the rate reductions to more uninsured individuals buying coverage in the individual insurance market. About 1.1 million uninsured New Yorkers are expected to get insurance on the exchange over a three year period, the state predicts. That includes about 146,000 from Long Island, according to the Urban Institute. For small businesses on Long Island with as many as 50 employees, up to 10 insurers will be offering plans. The governor s office said the average small business rate for the "benchmark" silver plan is about 32 percent lower than the nationwide average forecast by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. That is despite "the relatively higher per capita health care costs in New York compared to other states," the state said. Some advocates and experts were thrilled with the offerings while some insurance brokers expressed skepticism. "People priced out of the market are now priced in the market," said Gwen O Shea, president of the Health Welfare Council of Long Island. David Sandman, senior vice president of the nonprofit New York State Health Foundation, called the plans "great news." "The benefits of health reform are starting to become real for New Yorkers," he said. Peter Newell, Moncler Chany Vest Women Black director of the health insurance project at the nonprofit United Hospital Fund in Manhattan, praised both the state and the health insurers. "The result is a really cooperative effort," he said. "The health plans really stepped up." One of the new health insurers listed for Long Island is North Shore Long Island Jewish Health System. Spokesman Terry Lynam said North Shore LIJ is waiting to get a license that will enable it to sell insurance both on and off moncler jackets outlet uk the exchange. "Because this is new for us, we re going to be cautious in our approach," he said. "We don t want to get too big too fast." For Jack Glanzer, president of The Granite Insurance Brokerage in Garden City, the offerings raise questions. Currently, he said, no individual on Long Island can get health insurance for anything less than $1,000 a month, and usually the cost is much higher. He questioned the exchange s low rates. "How are they getting to these numbers?" Moncler baie Womens jackets marine Lapel Buttons black he asked, referring to the insurers. He said it would be key to know if the insurer s networks of doctors and other providers would be "tiny." Frequent reviews pledged In response, the state Department of Health said the exchange would review plan networks as part of the certification process and then quarterly to ensure "there are an adequate number of providers." Eileen Falk of Baranello Associates, insurance brokers in Great Neck, said that despite the reduction Moncler Mens Down Jackets ARCS doudoune Brown in rates, they would still be too high for many. "How is anybody going to be able to afford these prices?" she said. The health department said that based on predictions from the Urban Institute, 75 percent of those who enroll on the individual exchange will qualify for financial assistance. John Sardelis, associate chairman of health care management at St. Joseph s College in Patchogue and Brooklyn, said he has little doubt more New Yorkers will get coverage because of the exchange. But he Moncler Aliso Women down jackets dark blue said the larger question is whether the Affordable Care Act will have reduced costs, "or have we subsidized an overly expensive system?"

moncler damen

cheaper health insurance Few people in New York State today buy their health insurance directly from an insurer, mlb jerseys largely because the cost is so high. For a single person in this region, the premiums alone can exceed $1,200 per month. But next year, in the first major change introduced in New York under the Affordable Care Act, people could pay less than half as much when buying insurance on the state exchange. The huge savings promised by the exchange touted by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and President Obama, but dismissed by their political foes raise the question: How can they do that? Experts say the lower rates are possible due to increased competition, an expected influx of young, healthy people into the insurance pool and a shift by the state to allow health insurers to offer a wider variety of low benefit, lower priced plans. not an exact science. You moncler jackets for womens have to make assumptions, and that what we did. But they informed assumptions, based on our experience in the market, said Don Ingalls, HealthNow New York vice president for state and federal relations. The less expensive options offered on the state exchange, and the federal subsidies available to many buyers, are designed to give millions of uninsured New Yorkers access to health care. It too soon to know whether the assumptions behind the price predictions will prove accurate, but experts are optimistic about the initial rates proposed by insurers and approved in this Moncler Down coats with zip Women dark blue state. early signs from New York are very promising, said Heather Howard, program director for the State Health Reform Assistance Network, which is funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. To be sure, some will pay more next year than they pay now, primarily those who sign up for plans that offer more comprehensive coverage. But proponents say the exchanges create a true, competitive marketplace for individual coverage in a state where such a market doesn exist. However, the system will succeed only if healthy, uninsured people sign up for coverage, balancing moncler gamme bleu online out the costs for everyone. An individual mandate, in fact, requires everyone to buy insurance, and to pay a penalty if they don they don sign up because they still feel insurance premiums are too high, or they have trouble moncler children navigating the enrollment system for the exchanges then the new system will not work. Given the high stakes, insurers, government officials, academics and advocates for the uninsured are all waiting intently for what happens in 2014. is a brand new environment for everyone the state, insurers and consumers. The exchanges are very much a work in progress, said Peter Kates, a Univera Healthcare spokesman. Today, while millions of New Yorkers receive coverage through an employer, and many receive health insurance through the federal Medicaid and Medicare programs, kids moncler jackets sale just 17,000 people in the state pay for insurance coverage directly. Independent Health serves about 200 of those customers, while HealthNow New York has fewer than 1,000. Potential customers particularly those who are young and healthy are driven away by the price. Individual, single HMO plans in this market cost $1,081 per month for Univera, $1,174 for BlueCross BlueShield, and $1,277 for Independent Health, according to state data for July. an individual looking for insurance, it is virtually impossible to find affordable coverage, or to access it, said Larry Zielinski, moncler ladies a former president of Buffalo General Medical Center who teaches at the University at Buffalo School of Management. Insurers say one reason for the high prices is because New York required insurers to provide ever more costly benefits such as acupuncture, or chiropractic care, all included at the behest of interest groups even if the buyer had no need for the coverage. It the equivalent of forcing anyone who wants to buy a car to pay for the most expensive options, or requiring all cable subscribers to buy every premium channel, experts said. of the unintended consequences womens moncler jackets on sale is that the coverage became more expensive and people dropped out, Ingalls said. This is expected to change dramatically when the state exchange, a key piece of the most significant overhaul of our health care system since the 1960s, is up and running Jan. 1. In New York, a group of health plans has received state approval to sell on the exchange a set of standard plans at each of four levels, ranging from to Insurers also will offer nonstandard and off exchange plans. Cuomo office in July publicized its findings that the rates for the platinum and gold plans are as much as 53 percent moncler jacket price lower than the rates now available to individual insurance shoppers. The figure is based on a statewide average comparing the current, direct pay rates to the gold and platinum plans available on the exchange, said Matthew Anderson, a spokesman for the Department of Financial Services. At the platinum level, the plan prices for single coverage range from $371.87 to $834.66 per month, the state reported. Family plans cost about three times as much. State officials insist it fair to measure current individual plans against top tier exchange plans, but experts say a direct comparison is impossible. will say it is very difficult to make comparisons between the rates for coverage being paid today and the rates for coverage beginning in 2014. That because the coverage will be so different, said Jennifer Tolbert, director of state health reform for the Kaiser Family Foundation. One industry insider said it disingenuous for state officials to pat themselves on the back for the lower rates available on the exchange next year, when they just letting insurers offer the lower priced, lower benefit plans that weren allowed until now. year, you were only offering Cadillacs. This year, you offering Yugos, and Beetles. You can say the price dropped on Cadillacs, said the industry official, who asked not to be named for fear of angering state regulators. Representatives from the three largest area insurers say they are confident in their projected plan rates, which were generated by actuaries relying on past customer medical spending and assumptions on who will sign up for insurance on the exchanges

Text and images are provided by National Palace Museum