Best Health Insurance Companies

Insure.com Survey Publishes 2017's Best Health Insurance Companies for Baby Boomers

Nov. 28, 2016 (Foster City, CA) – Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan was ranked the top health insurance company for Baby Boomers in a new survey conducted by Insure.com.

Respondents to the survey between the ages of 51 and 69 gave ratings based on the following insurance company factors: customer service, claims handling, value for price, plan to renew, and would recommend.

• First place: BCBS of Michigan
  • Overall score: 90.8
  • Value for price: 4.75
  • Customer service: 4.75
  • Claims processing: 4.5
  • Plan to renew: 80%
  • Would recommend: 90%

• Second place: Blue Shield of California
  • Overall score: 90.7
  • Value for price: 4.75
  • Customer service: 4.25
  • Claims processing: 4.5
  • Plan to renew: 94%
  • Would recommend: 93%

• Third place: Independence Blue Cross
  • Overall score: 90.6
  • Value for price: 4.75
  • Customer service: 4.25
  • Claims processing: 4.75
  • Plan to renew: 88%
  • Would recommend: 90%

The results of the Baby Boomer survey echoed those found in the general study in which regional insurers lead in the overall satisfaction results. Baby Boomers favored Blue Cross Blue Shield affiliates this year, which were all strong in the "value for price" category. Members of this demographic become eligible for Medicare at 65, and since opinion of the program is generally favorable, companies may have received a boost from Medicare-enrolled members.
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan was number two in the general survey, but came in first with Baby Boomers. Blue Shield of California was second, and Philadelphia-based insurer Independence Blue Cross came in third. Independence Blue Cross, or IBX as it's known, is one of these 38 independent Blue Cross Blue Shield licensees and covers the specific counties of Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, and Philadelphia in Pennsylvania.
"The Baby Boomers are a group at a particular age where health claims are going to increase," says Jennifer Shelton, managing editor of Insire.com.  "Unlike Millennials, these are people who are likely using their networks and dealing with claims on a fairly regular basis. In a notoriously difficult industry to navigate, I'm glad to see such high overall scores."
See scores and rankings for all 15 health insurance companies in the general survey.
Insure.com's Best Heath Insurance Company survey removes the guesswork from finding the best companies in the industry. Not only can you compare five of the most important factors when choosing your carrier, but now you can sort companies by your priorities, like age or location, and immediately have your own top three from which to get and compare quotes.
For more details on the survey, including company scores and rankings across categories, please see the full feature on Insure.com.

Methodology

Insure.com commissioned Op4G to survey more than 3,700 insurance customers nationwide in June 2016. The survey collected customer ratings for 15 leading companies in the health category. Only current customers of the insurers on our lists were surveyed, and the survey was not open to the general public on the Insure.com website.

Health insurers were ranked according to a weighted 5-point measurement of the following factors: customer service, claims processing, value for price, would recommend and would renew. Weighted measurements were derived from surveyed policyholders' rank of prioritization of these factors.
The A.M. Best ratings, discounts and coverage options noted in the survey do not affect the scores, but are provided as a supplementary resource.

Insure.com makes these ratings freely available via this site. The views and opinions expressed by users do not reflect the views and opinions of Insure.com. Insure.com expressly disclaims any and all liability in connection with the ratings.

About Insure.com
Insure.com provides a comprehensive array of information on auto insurance, home insurance, health insurance, and life insurance. The site offers an extensive library of originally authored insurance articles and decision-making tools that are not available from any other single source, including its extensive car insurance discounts tool. For more information, please visit QuinStreet.com.
Twitter: @InsureCom

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Medicare coverage

On its 50^th anniversary, more than 55 million Americans covered by Medicare

New Medicare state-by-state enrollment numbers

As Medicare and Medicaid celebrate their 50th anniversary protecting the health and well-being of millions of seniors, people with disabilities and low-income individuals, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) today released updated Medicare state-by-state enrollment numbers, showing that more than 55 million Americans are covered by Medicare.

In 1966, approximately 19.1 million Americans were covered by Medicare. In 2012, there were nearly 52 million beneficiaries covered by Medicare. Today's enrollment numbers represent a three million person increase during the last three years as the Baby Boom generation has started to retire. Medicare beneficiaries depend on the program to provide critical health services such as preventive services, including flu shots and diabetes screenings, hospital stays, lab tests and critical supplies like wheelchairs and prescription drugs.

"Over the last 50 years, Medicare has become part of the fabric of our communities, protecting the well-being and financial security of millions of American families as they age or if they become disabled. In doing so, Medicare has kept up with dramatic demographic changes and led the charge toward improving health care delivery," said Andy Slavitt, CMS acting administrator. "As we preserve and advance Medicare for future generations, we are focused on helping build a better system with smarter spending that keeps people healthier."

CMS also releases state-by-state Medicaid enrollments on a monthly basis. As of May 2015, over 71.6 million individuals were enrolled in Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) with 12.8 million more gaining coverage since 2013. More information is available on Medicaid.gov.

The chart below outlines enrollment as of May 2015 in Original Medicare, Medicare Advantage and Part D (prescription drug plans):

State	Medicare Parts A and/or B	Medicare Advantage1	Total	Part D Total
Alabama	714,475	246,373	960,848	681,722
Alaska	82,292	665	82,957	33,114
Arizona	685,835	433,055	1,118,890	798,358
Arkansas	469,450	121,903	591,353	403,326
California	3,246,443	2,354,920	5,601,363	4,295,432
Colorado	486,962	290,466	777,428	548,360
Connecticut	465,754	161,781	627,535	468,874
Delaware	163,003	15,077	178,080	128,152
DC	76,076	11,735	87,811	49,810
Florida	2,367,608	1,601,277	3,968,885	2,920,247
Georgia	1,023,363	480,178	1,503,541	1,067,898
Hawaii	130,226	112,326	242,552	169,927
Idaho	186,352	91,711	278,063	185,761
Illinois	1,585,563	472,008	2,057,571	1,436,768
Indiana	867,439	274,477	1,141,916	823,097
Iowa	482,104	86,749	568,853	429,361
Kansas	416,622	67,545	484,167	336,790
Kentucky	631,252	226,064	857,316	630,711
Louisiana	547,162	239,874	787,036	569,946
Maine	234,647	69,616	304,263	213,308
Maryland	842,226	81,163	923,389	544,529
Massachusetts	948,839	261,433	1,210,272	817,417
Michigan	1,263,405	622,116	1,885,521	1,451,478
Minnesota	416,680	489,099	905,779	677,566
Mississippi	472,274	84,720	556,994	392,353
Missouri	804,245	324,780	1,129,025	827,818
Montana	162,736	36,852	199,588	126,085
Nebraska	271,448	39,218	310,666	217,073
Nevada	296,171	149,826	445,997	294,927
New Hampshire	244,219	20,067	264,286	163,822
New Jersey	1,252,414	233,355	1,485,769	1,060,513
New Mexico	251,323	117,883	369,206	255,414
New York	2,077,589	1,251,906	3,329,495	2,535,580
North Carolina	1,221,482	529,303	1,750,785	1,269,656
North Dakota	98,440	19,871	118,311	83,300
Ohio	1,241,692	898,626	2,140,318	1,634,697
Oklahoma	557,128	116,649	673,777	442,217
Oregon	414,968	330,468	745,436	538,975
Pennsylvania	1,501,476	1,018,209	2,519,685	1,878,311
Rhode Island	130,451	71,751	202,202	150,801
South Carolina	708,740	219,934	928,674	654,583
South Dakota	125,660	29,233	154,893	104,825
Tennessee	797,583	426,921	1,224,504	903,638
Texas	2,436,297	1,159,610	3,595,907	2,471,636
Utah	224,070	116,912	340,982	231,172
Vermont	120,557	10,024	130,581	94,501
Virginia	1,082,620	255,307	1,337,927	827,856
Washington	819,681	356,870	1,176,551	735,723
West Virginia	301,883	113,220	415,103	288,569
Wisconsin	645,149	397,405	1,042,554	722,372
Wyoming	90,820	3,678	94,498	58,379
American Samoa	4,174	238	4,412	576
Guam	14,764	63	14,827	3,080
Northern Mariana Islands	*	*	2,063	480
Puerto Rico	195,888	561,658	757,546	572,163
Virgin Islands	19,074	236	19,310	11,292
Pending State Designation	*	*	3,046	923
Foreign and Other Outlying Areas	422,200	4,014	426,214	11,034
Total	37,345,712	17,710,809	55,056,521	39,246,296

¹ The following organization types are included in the Medicare Advantage column: Local and Regional Coordinated Care Plans, Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) plans, Medical Savings Account (MSA) plans, Section 1876 Cost Contract plans, Section 1833 Health Care Prepayment (HCPP) plans, Chronic Care Plans, and Medicare-Medicaid Demonstration Plans.

* CMS is obligated by the federal Privacy Act, 5 U.S.C. Section. 552a and the HIPAA Privacy Rule, 45 C.F.R Parts 160 and 164, to protect the privacy of individual beneficiaries and other persons. All direct identifiers have been removed from this data file. In addition, information is suppressed that is based upon fewer than eleven (11) beneficiaries in the population.

Boomers eat cake

Boomers Eat Cake: Roll Up, for the Magical History Tour! New Book Showcases Quirky, Crazy & Berserk Pop Culture of Baby Boomers' World

Compiled by Robina and Lorenzo Wolfson, 'Boomers Eat Cake' throws readers into the sport, music and entertainment of the 1950s to the 1970s, and again for the unpredictable modern era. This book-bound blast-from-the-past showcases the quirky world baby boomers contended with, and the insanity they deal with today. One critic recently said, "save your movie money and get this book"!

Port Chester, NY – For the seventy-seven million baby boomers living on American soil, life has never been boring; a roaring conveyor belt of ever-changing pop culture, zany trends and a host of colorful characters that have kept the wheels of entertainment spinning. Coupled with baby boomers' need to rapidly adapt their ways in order to keep up with technology's boom – some could say life is insane!

Robina and Lorenzo Wolfson certainly think so, and are now showcasing the lives of them and their peers in a fascinating new book. 'Boomers Eat Cake' provides an upbeat look at past and modern life, as it has been grappled with by the world's single biggest demographic.

Synopsis:
Boomers Eat Cake is a mix of humor, nostalgia and reality. The book also takes a great look at the sports world in the earliest boomer decades (1950-1970's) It does the same for music, entertainment and current times (especially the quirky and berserk). It provides a laugh out loud ride about people and places we enjoyed and the total insanity that we deal with on a daily basis.

"We wanted to show just what baby boomers have lived through, and how the world of sports and entertainment have evolved as our wrinkles now set in," explains Robina Wolfson, who met Lorenzo at New Rochelle High School in New York. "As we all continue to live the boomer life and adjust to retirement, it's vital that we reflect on our past and acknowledge just how insane life has been!"

Continuing, "The book strikes a nerve dealing with High School memories, Rock n 'Roll, Woodstock and more while still including the crazy world of social media, the internet and reality TV. If you want a periscope into the past that also juggles the challenges of the present – here it is!"

Readers agree, leaving a slew of positive reviews. Wesley Eisenhandler comments, "I received an early release copy. I can't stop telling my friends how funny this book was. I couldn't put it down. I actually ready it twice and it was better the second time..."

Steven P. Mark adds, "This book is a funny and delightful read. For those who would understand the references and appreciate the nostalgia this is a must read."

'Boomers Eat Cake' is available now: http://amzn.to/1I6VSBN.
Copies are also available from Barnes & Noble