by Mark Smiley | Aug 30, 2017 | Feature Story Middle Left
Shideh Kerman, BS, MBA
by Shideh Kerman, BS, MBA
AFC Urgent Care Denver
Analysis released by the Kaiser Family Foundation in August found that most proposed healthcare premiums in different states that participated in the study show an increase in premiums for 2018.
The research looked at proposed premiums across major metropolitan areas in 20 states and Washington, D.C. Overall, they found that 15 of those states will see increases of a minimum of 10 percent or more next year. For plans on the individual market, the average proposed premium increase across all companies is about 27 percent. The cost of employer-sponsored coverage is expected to rise about 7 percent next year.
So the amount of the increases in premiums will depend on whether the healthcare plan is offered through the individual market or employer.
The healthcare plans on the individual market are for people who do not get their health insurance through employers. About 10 million people who buy policies through HealthCare.gov and state-run markets are potentially affected, as well as another 5 to 7 million who purchase individual policies on their own. In the state of Colorado, it will be roughly 120,000 people who shop for health insurance in the individual market.
The reason for the increase of these proposed premiums is that insurers are not certain how Congress will change the scope of benefits they must offer through their plans. In other words whether the government will continue to mandate that individuals be insured or continue to subsidize insurers that take on high-risk individuals through cost-sharing reductions in 2018.
Some lawmakers want to offset the cost of the subsidies, estimated at $7 to $10 billion next year, perhaps by cutting other health programs. Moreover, many Republicans criticize the subsidies as a bailout for insurers, and say they will not provide the funds unless Congress also takes steps to reduce insurance costs and cut back federal regulation of the industry.
Consumers in the government-sponsored individual markets can dodge the hit with the help of tax credits that most of them qualify for to help pay premiums. Non-government sponsored consumers could pay full price. Many are self-employed business owners.
The ongoing political turmoil for people who buy individual health insurance stands in sharp contrast to the relatively calm and stable process for most Americans with coverage through large employers, who will only face single-digit increases. The cost of employer-sponsored coverage is expected to rise around 7.46 percent next year, which are averages across all plans and states.
The 2018 premium prices have been the subject of anticipation — and worry — for months. But remember that these are only what the insurers have requested and are not yet finalized. The insurers must justify their premiums to the Division of Insurance.
All theses uncertainties led to the CMS [Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services] giving health insurers three more weeks to finalize their 2018 ACA [Affordable Care Act] individual marketplace rates, pushing the deadline to Sept. 5. State regulators have allowed insurers to increase their healthcare premium rates to “account for uncompensated liability that insurers may face for cost-sharing reductions,” the CMS said in a memo.
More detailed information about premiums is offered on CMS website. The plans and requested premiums from the insurance companies, also called filings, are available on the under Division’s “Health Insurance Filings” web page.
by Valley Gadfly | Aug 30, 2017 | Valley Gadfly
Mint is one of the first greens to arrive in spring and one of the last to depart at summer’s end. Its magic secret: It makes us feel good. Its exuberant freshness elevates our mood, boosts our alertness and motivates us while soothing frazzled nerves. Yes, the flowers of summer are beginning to droop and wither because the sun is getting closer.
The Four Lads seasons shift lyrics: “Though summer turns to winter and the present disappears, the laughter we were glad to share will echo through the years.”
Here are our end of summer choices for shopping, dining and entertainment so the crisp air, mountains of color and crunch of leaves underfoot add moments to remember:
3 Catch this season’s big Broadway premiere before it slides out of town. The pre-Broadway opening of Disney’s musical Frozen is warming up at DCPA’s Buell Theatre through Oct. 1. Information: 303-893-4100.
3 Keep the last flames of summer hot by viewing the film Barbeque followed by a cook-off at the Sie FilmCenter Sept. 5. Information: 720-381-0813.
3 Renée Fleming’s sumptuous voice joins the Colorado Symphony to heat up Boettcher Concert Hall Sept. 9, 7:30 p.m. Information: 303-623-7876.
3 Toast to summer’s end Sept. 15 with cocktails and music at the Blue Moon After Party on the 16th Street Bridge, 6 p.m. Information: 303-455-7190.
3 Let Del Frisco’s classic bar and grill take you to new heights with bold fall food and drinks. Enjoy amazing autumn nights perched on the patio for Cherry Creek North’s best dining. Information: 303-320-8286.
3 View the beauty of summer through the artwork of 30 plus artists displaying work interpreting memories of summer at Arts at Denver on Old South Gaylord St., Sept. 15-Oct. 7. Information: 3003-722-0422.
3 Enjoy a mellow day touring homes, a library and church in the historic Baker District Sept. 16, 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Information: 720-424l-7620.
3 Join the fall Hop, Skip and Jump 5K plus toddler trot and infant crawl at the Children‘s Museum Sept. 17, 9 a.m. Information: 303-561-0110.
3 Live theater is always marvelous, and productions at the John Hand Theater in Lowry are ideal fall entertainment. The regional premiere of The Mystery of Love & Sex opens Sept. 9 and runs through Oct. 7. It’s a compelling story of a complex relationship that is an entertaining and explosive look at race, sexual identity and family dynamics. Performances are Fri. and Sat. 7:30 p.m., Sun. 2 p.m. Information: 303-562-3232.
There are two different dates that mark the end of summer and the beginning of autumn. For meteorologists, summer ends on Aug. 31 and autumn begins on Sept. 1. But astronomers say summer ends on Sept. 21 and autumn begins on Sept. 22. Therefore, be shifty and choose the end date as your seasonal garnish and recipe for high spirits.
Summer may be over, but that doesn’t mean you can’t kick back, relax and enjoy the sights and smells of fall. A cuddly fuzzy feeling is slowly replacing hot and humid.
Unlike this summer’s hot, cold and wet weather, autumn doesn’t tease us. Instead it delivers cooler temperatures. We love summer, but autumn is when mint magic spices up our lives and adds a splash of earthiness. As Helen Hunt Jackson understood: “September days are here, With summer’s best of weather And autumn’s best of cheer.”
— Glen Richardson
The Valley Gadfly can be reached at newspaper@glendalecherrycreek.com.
by Peter Boyles | Aug 30, 2017 | Blasting with Boyles
Dear Annabel,
If I may be presumptuous —
Like most of the Front Range we’re currently watching your son John pull a series of minor and major league criminal activities predicated on his abundant use of alcohol and controlled substances.
When I read The Denver Broncos websites, you people are great champions of raising funds to fight women’s breast cancer, feeding hungry children and with the help of guys like Brandon Marshall, defeat police violence.
But it is my duty as a recovering addict and alcoholic (32 years on last Easter Sunday), so I’m going to do something that most people in recovery say is a big “no no”; I’m going to take your son’s inventory. According to a lot of the unwritten rules in sobriety taking another man’s inventory means to judge him, so here goes.
Absolutely every single thing that I have learned about treating alcoholics and addicts, you and your family have done the complete opposite.
How much money that could have gone to fight breast cancer, police violence and hunger have you paid our friend Harvey Steinberg? I believe Harvey’s ordered a second Mercedes.
Do you have the slightest notion of what “enable” means?
You have enabled the “blood of the city” to time and time again do the wrong thing.
When he told the Glendale cops he’s the owner of the Denver Broncos, and (I don’t know what this will get you) a friend of the mayor — you have the wrong town’s mayor. If he meant Hancock, did they go to Players and Sugars? But I repeat myself. You’re putting on a seminar of how not to act as caring parents.
The late Bob Coté, founder of Step 13 had a motto. It went like this, “You want to help them? Don’t help them.”
You have bailed John Boy out of legal troubles for apparently more than a decade. According to court records he was charged with drug paraphernalia in Arapahoe County — charges dismissed, thank you Harvey.
Next, driving drunk in Boulder, the wrong way on a one-way street. Again, reduced to impaired. Do we tip the hat to Harvey again?
Finally, the 9-1-1 call from the girlfriend where apparently John had shoved her against the wall. What a funster. Also telling 9-1-1 nothing is wrong.
And now pulling an O.J. in a high-speed chase in San Luis Obispo County. And again, telling the highway patrolman he was trying to talk his dad out of selling the team. Kind of makes you proud doesn’t it.
Well apparently John has given himself up in Glendale. And again been bailed out.
As I write this I don’t know the outcome of it all, but I can almost guarantee to you and all the readers it will get worse.
Please take your son to Step 13 sober. Knock on the door, when they answer push him inside. Say I’ll see you in a year. If not it’s just a question of time. He’ll turn up again. On a serious note, remember this — alcohol and drug addictions are degenerative. They’re worse tomorrow than they are today.
I leave tomorrow for Sturgis on the Haj, but I’d be willing to bet lunch, since you got your darling son out of Glendale he’s at least had a couple of drunks. Good luck. I’m easy to find. When you’re sick of paying Harvey, give me a call.
— Peter Boyles
by Mark Smiley | Aug 24, 2017 | Featured Stories & Advertisers
