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Recent Entries

• State Insurance Bureau Q & A on health insurance premium increases
• VCU names winner of female cardiologist award
• Help for chronic foot pain
• Children snacking three times a day
• (Vas deferens) tube time

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The Bureau of Insurance at the State Corporation Commission has posted a Q & A on health insurance premium increases.

The bureau also tells consumers how to get copies of insurance company rate increase filings.

Here’s a snippet.

Health Insurance Rates in Virginia

As the cost of health care continues to rise in Virginia and across the nation, many companies are raising premium rates.

Below are frequently asked questions about how health insurance rates are reviewed in Virginia.

What types of health insurance premium rates are subject to prior approval in Virginia?

The premium rates associated with individual policies of accident and sickness insurance issued in Virginia by health insurers and health services plans must be submitted to and approved by the Bureau of Insurance before they can be implemented. This includes the initial rates as well as rate changes.

Premium rates associated with both individual and group Medigap policies and certificates issued in Virginia are also subject to prior approval, as are premium rates associated with individual and group policies of Long-Term Care Insurance issued in Virginia.

Premium rates associated with contracts issued by Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs) are not subject to prior approval by the Bureau; they are simply “filed” with the Bureau for informational purposes.
However, the Bureau can require that the HMO certify that the rates are appropriate and based upon reasonable assumptions. The Bureau can also require other supporting documentation deemed necessary.


How does the Bureau of Insurance determine whether a premium rate increase for an individual policy of accident and sickness insurance can be approved?

Read more here. Note: this is in pdf format and includes a form to ask about a specific rate increase.

Here’s a link to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which is asking insurance companies to justify double-digit premium increases.

Here’s a response from America’s Health Insurance Plans.

From VCU:

RICHMOND, Va. (March 9, 2010) – Elizabeth G. Nabel, M.D., a nationally recognized physician-scientist and leading advocate of cardiovascular research, has been selected to receive the second annual Dr. Carolyn McCue Woman Cardiologist of the Year Award from the Virginia Commonwealth University Pauley Heart Center.

Nabel is the newly appointed president of Brigham and Women’s Hospitals and a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. Prior to joining BWH in January 2010, she was director of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, the largest of the National Institutes of Health institutes, where she oversaw a staff of 850 and an annual budget of $3 billion.

The McCue Award honors the memory of Dr. Carolyn McCue, one of the few female cardiologists of her time and a pioneer in the field of pediatric cardiology, who practiced at the Medical College of Virginia, now the VCU Medical Center, for 42 years. She created and chaired the school’s Pediatric Cardiology Division for 20 years, during which time she was instrumental in establishing pediatric cardiology clinics in medically underserved communities throughout Virginia.

The March 6 Your Health column in the Times-Dispatch looks at plantar fasciitis, a heel pain problem.
Here are some links to recent studies on plantar fasciitis.

Comparison of Radial Shockwaves and Conventional Physiotherapy for Treating Plantar Fasciitis

Conservative therapy for plantar fasciitis: a narrative review of randomized controlled trials

Extracorporeal shock wave therapy for plantar fasciitis: randomised controlled multicentre trial

Treatment of chronic plantar fasciitis with botulinum toxin A: an open case series with a 1 year follow up

Plantar Fasciitis: What’s an Evidence-Informed Consumer to Do?

Obesity and pronated foot type may increase the risk of chronic plantar heel pain: a matched case-control study

Other places to get information

American Podiatric Medical Association

American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons

Mayo Clinic

WebMD page on plantar fasciitis with links to exercises

The March 2010 issue of the journal Health Affairs features articles on childhood obesity.

One article looks at a change in snacking behavior among children.

Childhood snacking trends are moving toward three snacks per day, and more than 27 percent of children’s daily calories are coming from snacks, the authors state.

Sweetened beverages and desserts remained the major snacking sources.

The authors wonder, that with three snacks a day and three meals a day, are children getting into a habit of nonstop eating?

“This raises the question of whether the physiological basis for eating is becoming dysregulated, as our children are moving toward constant eating.”

Photo illustration by Alexa Welch Edlund

Virginia Urology has an unusual promotion going.

Men who want a reason to sit and do nothing but watch March Madness basketball for a few days can choose this time to get a vasectomy, which requires a week or so recovery period.

From the Virginia Urology Web site:

“Do you want optimal tube time for the NCAA games next month? We can help!

Virginia Urology is hosting our own “Vasectomy Madness” for those men who have been considering having a vasectomy and are avid basketball fans.  We will be scheduling men to have the procedure done during the NCAA March Madness Tournament so that they can watch the games while they recuperate.  Patients need to have a consultation with a physician prior to having a vasectomy.  Appointments can be made by calling 804-288-0339 or clicking on the request an appointment button on our website.“

The vas deferens are the thin muscular tubes that carry sperm from each testicle to the urethra.

The National Library of Medicine says men can usually return to work 2 to 3 days after the procedure and return to normal physical activities in 3 to 7 days. Bruising and swelling should go away within 2 weeks.

There are minimally invasive techniques. Some other urology groups across the country are even throwing in a free pizza and a bag of frozen peas to boot.

Hey, how about equal time for some female reproductive health services? Women go to the doctor more and pay higher insurance rates sometimes because they use more health care services.