KR Benefits Insurance Services

California Insurance Broker helping business owners understand and manage health insurance & employee benefit programs. @BrokerManCA

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Be th' insurance company takin' me doubloons?

Be th’ insurance company takin’ me doubloons?

Enter a capion

Be off in fer me #ACA Wellness exam (covered 100% No Deductible) Kaiser Permanente sends me a bill fer it.

Today is Talk Like a Pirate Day and what’s going on here is pure Hornswaggle. I had the same issue last year with John Muir Health and Blue Shield of California, to be fair. As an insurance broker I know this isn’t correct, but does the average person? The insurance companies…

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(via Hand us your data, we'll cut your rates: Hancock)

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#BlueShieldCA roadshow learning about #GrandMothering #SB1446 #ACA #paperless (at San Ramon Marriott)

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Hanging out with Blue Shield of CA corporate hipsters (at Dreamforce 2013)

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Nothing says #GoodTimes like #HealthCareReform training. (at Sheraton Universal Hotel)

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The Criminal Minds folks helped with the @CoveredCA manual.

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It's like a dream come true... #coveredca (at Walnut Creek Marriott)

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Kato taking charge at todays GGAHU Board Meeting.

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The California bear at the Governors office. #CAHU #DATC

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Covered California to distribute $43M in grants

To help it reach uninsured and "subsidy eligible" Californians http://ow.ly/1RCNkG

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#ivoted (at Saint Demetrios)

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Taken with Instagram

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I Voted! (Taken with Instagram at Saint Demetrios)

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Back on that Obesity kick again

Just a quick note today to mention that the First Lady, Michelle Obama was in New Hampshire doing the bunny hop and serving up some White House honey to the kids. This link to a local paper highlights the heart breaking story of one families loss of their daughter to childhood diabetes due to obesity. Kick the kids off the couch and get out, keep the menu at home healthy. 

Some first lady moves: Penacook Community Center joins Michelle Obama in her 'Let's Move' initiative 

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Wrap your mind around the Affordable Care Act

It's very possible that the healthcare act will morph over time. It's going to have to because both sides are dug deeper than Santa Ana's Army and Sam Houston's Texans at the Alamo.

One of the parts of the law is that folks may apply for a Federal loan to start their own non-profit "Consumer Driven" health plan. I can't wait for the first time a Berkeley  run Consumer Operated and Oriented Plan (CO-OP) plan drops an Anthem like rate increase on it's members. This seems like a marriage made in heaven.

Another part of the law will be the establishment of state run health exchanges, which was tried in California in 1992 with the HIPC plan (which went belly up in 2006). The key provisions that proponents of the law praise are the tax credits and the removal of the middle man. In a few years when the subsidies phase out and they have no agent to act as their advocate, maybe it won't be nirvana after all.

Affordable Care Act 101: What To Expect Now And Later

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Our nation's cities appear to be fat

The nations obesity rate is hanging at about 26%. The national obesity rate declined slightly to 26.1% in 2011, from 26.6% in 2010. Good news for our area; San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, Calif.: comes in at 17.5% If the nation is ever going to bring down the cost of healthcare it's going to have to lose the weight. The statistics are that 86% of workers are above normal rate and miss an estimated 450 million additional days of work as compared with healthy workers. 

The new Accountable Care Act has provisions to address this problem with free preventative services including counseling on losing weight. Whether or not the law can get Americans to take advantage of these services is another thing. Americans need to exercise more and eat better because half are not doing so.

Tomorrow, is as good a time as any to start. Walk some extra steps, push the plate away a little early, it'll help us all smile a little more.

Obesity, Chronic Diseases Stable Across U.S. States in 2011

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Doctors and Hospitals Working Together to Keep Patients Out of Hospital Beds

This LA Times article follows up on our Golden Gate Association of Health Underwriters meeting last month where we heard from Chris McCrary, Director of Contracts & Network Development, from Hill Physicians Medical Group. He spoke on Creating Affordability in medical care and touched on their participation in one of the first Accountable Care Organizations (ACO) in California. He mentioned that by reaching beyond their organization to the Hospital and Blue Shield of California they were able to realize better patient outcomes by getting patients out of the hospital setting and back home or into rehabilitative care. This was followed later in the month at an Anthem Blue Cross seminar where they discussed their new ACO small group product that is available to members of Individual Practice Association Medical Group of Santa Clara County. Be prepared to see more of these affiliations in the future as the the ACO partnerships expand.

To stay fiscally healthy, state's hospitals want fewer patients