Getting Beaten by Your Husband Is an Excuse to Deny Ins. Coverage?

by L.A.S.

This is unbelievable. I keep saying that I am not an apologist for the insurance companies. I try to portray them as reasonable, given the fact that they do have to make a profit to stay in business. And then they pull stuff like this.
A woman was dropped from her insurance plan because she was abused by her husband. Their rationale appears to be that because, she was beaten badly enough to need medical attention, she will probably wind up in the hospital again. Abusive husbands tend to repeat their behavior, in other words.
But to penalize the woman by denying her continued coverage is just unconscionable. That is penalizing the victim, and it is unacceptable.
You may read the whole article plus some commentary by clicking on this story: http://minnieapolis.newsvine.com/_news/2009/09/16/3279449-heartless-logic-getting-beaten-by-your-husband-is-an-excuse-to-deny-ins-coverage
A quote from the article: "Under the cold logic of the insurance industry, it makes perfect sense: If you are in a marriage with someone who has beaten you in the past, you're more likely to get beaten again than the average person and are therefore more expensive to insure."
ARRGGHH!! Sometimes I just have to scream, you know what I mean?
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Looking for a Company to Handle Enrollments? Lots to Choose From

by L.A.S. --

If you cannot find a company to handle the enrollment process for your group health plans (or other insurance plans), then by gosh, you just are not looking. There are so many companies that handle this service, that I cannot give a comprehensive listing of all the variables in types of policies they service, whether they do online enrollment (most do) or webcast, or how big your group has to be. I will just give you the company name, website and phone number.

I will, however, also list here those that do phone enrollment: 4MyBenefits, Aegias Corp., Alliance Benefit Group, American Insurnet, ATD Employer Solutions, Benefit Associates, Benefit Communications, Benefit Enrollment Services, Benefit Express, Benefit Resources, Benefit Decisions, Benelogic, Black Mountain Group, CB Solutions, Clear Benefits, Colonial Life has an enrollment call center option, Complete Benefit alliance, Cornerstone, Corporate Benefit Solutions (call center), Corporate Benefit Specialists, Cost Containment Group, Emerson Reid, Empliant, Employee Benefit Comm., Employee Family Protection, Employee Security Plans (call center), EOI Service, Government Benefit Services, H & G Benefits, HR Technology Advisors, Impact Enrollment, ING (thru enrollment firms), National Benefit Consultants, National Benefits Group of America, National Enrollment Services, Online Insurance Services, OptiMed Health Plans, Parker Group, SHPS, Titan Benefit (dedicated call center), United Group Programs, Univers Workplace Benefits (3 call centers across the country), Wachovia Insurance, Workscape, Worksite Services.
This info is dated from 2008, the most recent available -- so bear in mind that some details may have changed. Good luck!

4MyBenefits: 800-734-5144; 4mybenefits.com; all states.
A.D.A.M. Inc.: 516-414-7000; adam.com, all states.
AEGIAS Corp.: 800-537-5154; aegias.com; all states.
Alliance Benefit Group: abgnational.com; all states.
American Insurenet: 800-333-4638 x125; americaninsurnet.com, all states EXCEPT HI, NY.
Andrew & Alexander Inc.: 888-636-0404; only in AR, LA, OK, TX.
ATD Employer Solutions: 877-782-8060; atdemployersolutions.com; only in IL, IN, IA, MO, WI.
Benefit Associates Inc.: 800-400-8016; benecenter.com; all states.
Benefit Communications Inc.: 800-489-3786; benefitcommunications.com; all states.
Benefit Enrollment Services Inc.: 800-838-1320; besibenefits.com; available in AZ, CA, FL, IL, IN, KY, MD, MI, MN, MS, NY, NC, OH, PA, SC, TN, TX, UT, WV, WI.
Benefit Express: 847-637-1551; benefitexpress.info; all states.
Benefit Resources Inc.: 800-339-4793; britulsa.com; available in AZ, CA, CO, GA, IA, KS, LA, MO, NE, OK, PA, TX.
BenefitDecisions: 312-376-0442; benefitdecisions.com; all states.
Benelogic: 877-716-8778; benelogic.com; all states.
BeneTrac: 619-788-5800; BeneTrac.com; all states.
Black Mountain Group: 312-376-0442; blackmountaingroup.com; all states.
Brokers National Life Assurance Co.: 800-798-1125; bnlac.com; available in all states EXCEPT CT, ME, MA, NH, NJ, NY, RI, VT.
CBSolutions: 800-941-9714; cbsolutionslic.net; all states.
ClearBenefits: 888-398-9534; myclearbenefits.com; all states.
Colonial Life: 800-845-7330; ColonialLife.com; all states EXCEPT NY.
Complete Benefit Alliance: 800-211-2797; cba-companies.com; all states.
Cornerstone Enrollment Services: 866-370-3401; Cornerstonevb.com; all states.
Corporate Benefit Solutions Inc.: 888-313-7299; cbs-ga.com; available in AL, FL, GA, KY, MS, MO, NC, SC, TN, TX.
Corporate Benefit Specialists: 800-264-0073; available in AR, CO, IL, IN, IA, KS, KY, MI, MN, MO, NE, NC, OK, PA, SC, TN, TX.
Cost Containment Group: costcontainmentcorp.com; all states.
EMC National Life Co.: 515-345-4219; emcnl.com; all states EXCEPT NJ, NY.
Emerson Reid & Co.: 484-421-3414; emersonreid.com; all states.
Empliant: 919-968-9898; empliant.com; all states.
Employee Benefit Communications: 813-639-0099; ebcfl.com; all states.
Employee Family Protection Inc.: 860-659-1323; www.EFP@NOW.com; all states EXCEPT AR, HI, NM, WA.
Employee Security Plans Inc.: 800-373-3771; all states.
EOI Service Co. Inc.: 800-229-4364 x3303; eoiservice.com; all states.
Government Benefit Services: 561-427-7264; govbenefit.biz; all states.
H & G Benefits: 800-929-9525 x109; hngbenefits.com; all states except WY.
HR Technology Advisors: 508-520-9800; hrtadvisors.com; all states.
HRCG: 801-765-4417; hrconsultinggroup.com; all states.
Impact Enrollment Solutions: 888-846-1176; impactenrollment.com; all states.
Infinisource Inc.: 800-300-3838; all states.
ING Employee Benefits: 800-537-5024; ingemployeebenefits-us.com; all states.
Lincoln Financial Group: 877-Ask-Lincoln; LincolnFinancial.com; all states.
National Benefit Consultants Inc.: 480-940-0070; nbcbenefits.com; all states.
National Benefits Group of America: 800-330-7735; nbgamerica.net; all states.
National Enrollment Services: 800-966-6637; nesbenefits.com; all states.
Online Insurance Services Inc.: 866-266-3966; www.oisworld.com; available in AL, AK, AZ, AR, DE, FL, GA, HI, IL, IN, IA, KY, LA, ME, MA, MS, MO, MT, NE, NH, NJ, NM, NC, ND, OH, O, PA, RI, SC, TN, TX, VA, WV, WI, WY.
OptiMed Health Plans: 800-482-8770 x215; optimedhealth.com; all states EXCEPT CT, NH, VT, WA.
The Parker Group: 800-655-3161; parkerbenefits.com; all states.
Paylogix: 800-622-4131; paylogix.com; all states EXCEPT AK, NV, NH.
Rae Rocco: 702-897-9929; only in AZ, CA, NV, UT.
SHPS: 888-421-7477; carewisehealth.com; all states.
Titan Benefit Communications: 888-35-Titan; titan-benefits.com; all states.
Transcend Technologies Group: 877-426-8750; transcendtechgroup.com; all states.
United Group Programs Inc.: 800-482-8770 x215; ugpinc.com; all states.
Univers Workplace Benefits: 800-343-0240; universworkplace.com; all states.
Voluntary Benefits Systems Inc.: 800-229-1119; voluntarybenefits.net; all states.
Wachovia Insurance Services Inc.: WachoviaInsurance.com; all states.
Workscape: 508-573-9000; workscape.com; all states.
Worksite Services Inc.: 800-862-8963; worksiteservicesinc.com; available in FL, GA, NC, SC, TN, VA.

Getting Down to the Truth Behind Wild Claims that Reform Bill will Put Grannies to Death

This week my thanks go out to another writer in the blogging universe called Minnie Apolis. He or she writes a varied column and this past week had a great article about the truth behind those wild emails. You know, the ones that claim that Pres. Obama's healthcare reform bill will encourage suicide as a way to keep Medicare's costs in line.

The title says it all: The Truth About Page 425 of the Healthcare Reform Bill; NO, They are NOT Going to Put Granny to Death!

PLEASE go to this link -- http://minnieapolis.newsvine.com/_news/2009/09/10/3250470-the-truth-about-page-425-of-the-healthcare-reform-bill-no-they-are-not-going-to-put-granny-to-death?threadId=673317&commentId=9395279#c9395279

and read, and then send out emails to your friends spreading the truth behind this unfounded and irresponsible claim about the healthcare reform bill.

From the article:
The rumor or rumors maintain that a House bill would require Medicare beneficiaries to have a class or review every five years “to decide how to end their lives sooner.”
These spurious emails always add that “They're going to push suicide to cut Medicare spending!” All these emails seem to point to page 425 as the source of their claims.

What is actually on page 425?
There is a page 425. That is about all that the emails have gotten correct.
It says that Medicare is required to pay doctors for consultations regarding advance care planning, which may include things like making a living will, appointing a health proxy (a medical power-of-attorney), or indicating a preference for hospice care if necessary.
Medicare would pay for these sessions a maximum of once every five years.
And why would any bill even mention such consultations?
Because as it is now, no one is paid for their time to talk to you about things that need to be said and done. You may get a few minutes with a nurse or a hospital patient-representative. You may get a few forms pushed at you. But there is no incentive for anyone to actually sit down with you and go through all the options you have and what they really mean if one day you cannot indicate what you want done.

Thanks, Minnie! Speak the truth, everyone!