Mike Solis

Good news on Tonik Rates in New Hamphire! Anthem NH announced today that the Tonik plans will GO DOWN in October on average 4.2 percent. The rate decrease is part of an overall rate reduction for the companies most popular plans.  See the insurance rate schedule below:

• Blue Direct PPO and HSA received an average decrease of 4.7%
• Lumenos received an average increase less than 0.1%
• Tonik received an average decrease more than 4.2%
• Individual Blue and Conversion received an average decrease of 10.2%

Now this does not mean that everyone who has a Tonik plan will see their price go down 4.2%.  Some may see an increase while others may see their price drop double that amount. It really depends on the age band. Additionally if you enter a new age band (like when you go from 39 to 40) your price will go up to the higher age band. Any increase by entering a new age band is not reflected in the 4.2% expected decrease.

Still this is huge news. With health insurance premiums growing annually at double digit rates it is nice to be able to tell our clients that “Hey your Tonik plan will be less expensive than last year!”

Click the links for more information about Tonik or to contact us

by Naya Jones

Medicoverage Inc issued a Tonik press release today stating that it is moving its popular website, tonikplans.com to its flagship site at www.medicoverage.com/tonik.  The move is designed to make Medicoverage.com vast insurance resources available to members who research and purchase Tonik.

According to Medicoveage CEO, Eric Scheinbaum, “Tonik insurance members will be able to tap into our newly relaunched member section which includes key contact lists, claim forms, summary of benefits and online chat tools.”

The relocation of the domain is part of a larger effort to make http://www.medicoverage.com a “one-stop shop” for all its clients health insurance needs. “Medicoverage.com is now the ‘go-to’ site for individuals searching for Tonik health insurance,” explained president Chris Mihm.  “But now the same location offers resources for families, seniors, small businesses and those living in non-tonik states.”

For more information on the relocation view the Tonik press release.

By: Naya Jones

Tonik members in California can breath another sigh of relief as Anthem Blue Cross of California has pushed back the controversial insurance rate high again.

Why the Rate Increase for Tonik?

You may remember that in January 2010 some Tonik members were told their prices were to increase. Anthem Blue Cross said this was due to the increased cost of paying member claims for Tonik and their other health insurance plans.  There was a lot of negative feedback regarding the rate increase. Obama and many politicians including Gubernatorial candidate Steve Pozner, claimed that the increased rates were unfair. Anthem agreed to postpone the March rate action until May 2010 to let an independent group review the requested new rates to see if they were justified. Medicoverage sent out an update to our members explaining the Blue Cross rate action.  Since then we have been waiting to hear if Anthem would indeed raise health insurance premiums.

Will California Tonik Raise Rates in May 2010?

The short answer is: NOT YET!!!!  We haven’t seen the results of the independent analysis so know one knows if the original proposed rate increase will stick. All we know is that for now Tonik members who were slated for March rate hikes will not see prices go up in May as had been previously announced.  This time, however, they did not select a date for when rates may go up.  This should mean that if they do intend to raise rates in the future, they will have to give members 30 day notice.  We will send out emails to all our Tonik members who may be affected by any future rate increase.

If you currently have Tonik and would like to explore alternatives to your current plan, please contact our independent health insurance agentsor visit our health plan quoting tool.

By Marcus Wilip

It is too early to say exactly what the final health care reform will look like but we get lots of questions asking how will reform efforts affect Tonik Health Insurance.  Here is what we know so far…

There is currently no public health plan on the table that will cover everyone for “no cost.”  We occasionally get the person that says, “why buy Tonik if I’m just going to get covered under health care reform.”  Any results from health reform will be a few years off and they won’t offer blanket coverage for young people like Medicare does for the over 65 set.

Congress is, however, scheduled to vote shortly on a reformed plan designed to get the bulk of young people to buy health insurance.  The plan is supposed to use a combination of subsidies to help young people pay for the their monthly premium and fee penalties for those who chose not to purchase health insurance.  If this passes there will be a health insurance coverage mandate. This is designed in part to get the additional 13 million young Americans who are currently not paying for health insurance into the system. 

The proposed penalty is not that big.  It looks like $95 dollars for the first year and it will start increasing to $750. 

So how does this all affect Tonik. We don’t know exactly.  The proposal talks of requiring all plans to approve everyone. That would be a change for Tonik as currently all applications must go through underwriting and everyone is subject to approval. If this were implemented on Tonik it would also raise the price as we have seen with the small group market when everyone is approved regardless of their health history, the monthly price is almost always higher.  But it is unclear how a legacy plan like Tonik will work. They say that if you already have a plan you can keep it so maybe Tonik’s benefits will not change. 

We will keep you posted with any new news of how health care reform will affect Tonik.

By: Naya Jones

To accomodate non English speakers, the Tonik health insurance applications are now availabe in Tagalog, Vietnamese and Spanish. The application are currently only available.
We have added Tagalog, Vietnamese and Spanish applications.

Spring is here, bringing with it an important milestone for many young adults—college graduation. Graduating from college represents a transition from partial to complete independence. While some graduates continue on to graduate studies, many either take some time off or enter the workforce - an exciting time that also happens to be coupled with several financial and lifestyle obstacles.

Upon graduation, many young adults lose their eligibility for health insurance coverage. Former students are no longer covered by their school’s insurance plan and many are no longer considered eligible as dependents on their parents’ plans. As a result, many young adults join the ranks of the 47 million Americans who are uninsured, making recent grads the fastest growing segment of the uninsured population.

According to a recent report by the Commonwealth Fund, nearly 40 percent of college graduates and half of high school graduates who do not enroll in college have no health insurance coverage at some point during their first year after graduation.

Many graduates don’t know how long their job search will last and are reluctant to purchase coverage they feel is unnecessary. The challenge for these twenty-somethings is finding a flexible policy that provides coverage for up to six or 12 months that also allows them to pay for coverage one month at a time. Once they obtain permanent coverage through an employer, they can simply stop paying the month-to-month premium.

Individual medical insurance can give recent graduates and their parents valuable peace of mind by protecting them from the devastating financial impact a catastrophic illness or accident can cause.

“We know that young adults are facing the challenge of seeking health coverage that is affordable,” said John Martie, president, Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Colorado. “Anthem has created innovative coverage options, like Tonik and Lumenos Consumer-Driven Health Plans that deliver practical coverage for a reasonable price.”

Though policy costs vary according to age, gender and location, they’re typically about one-third the cost of coverage through COBRA. Individual policies are easy to purchase.