Florida Health Insurance Is Bringing You New Ideas to Protect Your Health

Author: Wiley Long
Residents of Florida can choose from many Health Insurance Plans in Florida to get the right coverage for their individual or family needs, and several of these providers are making news with innovative programs to help their members.

Aetna and Anthem Offer Mail-order Prescription Medications

Two the largest providers of Health Insurance for Florida - Aetna and Anthem - are offering at-home delivery for many of the most popular medications, including maintenance medications that are used to treat diabetes and heart disease. Their members can receive 30-, 60-, and 90-day prescriptions for many commonly used medications.

Members who enroll in mail-order prescription programs may also receive a discount for the first time they fill a prescription. Many programs offer additional coupons, free shipping, and other perks to make filling prescriptions affordable and convenient. Some programs even offer reminders when it's time to refill a prescription.

Anthem Offers Members Full Coverage for H1N1 Vaccination

As a major provider of Florida Health Insurance Plans, Anthem is providing full coverage for H1N1 vaccination for its members. On its Website, Anthem has stated that it is offering the no-cost vaccination coverage to support public health agencies, including the Center for Disease Control, in efforts to stop the spread of H1N1.

Members can receive the vaccination either by injection or spray. To make the cost of vaccination free to members, Anthem is waiving any coinsurance, co-pays, and deductible associated with the vaccination, including a doctor's office co-pay. To receive the free vaccination, members must obtain it from a participating provider.

Fully-insured members can also take advantage of low-cost flu-related treatments, such as Relenza and Tamiflu.

Anthem Partners with WebMD to Offer Online Health Assessment

In addition, Anthem has also partnered with a leading online resource for health-related information - WebMD - to provide members with helpful health assessment tools through the MyHealth@Anthem online portal.

These tools are interactive to help members assess their overall health with a blood alcohol estimator, body fat calculator, body mass index calculator, ideal weight calculator, interactive personal trainer, nutrition toolbox, sleep disorder assessment tool, smoking cost calculator, and target heart rate calculator. The online tools are designed to help members understand their current health, and take steps to improve their own well being.

Blue Cross and Blue Shield Launches Physician Recognition Program

Leading Florida Health Insurance provider - Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida -has launched a program to recognize high-quality healthcare providers in Florida. Their Recognizing Physician Excellence program rewards physicians who deliver high-quality care, and service to patients.

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida has opened the program up to many different healthcare providers, including family practice, general practice, geriatrics, gynecology, internal medicine, obstetrics, and pediatrics physicians who participate in the Blue Cross and Blue Shield NetworkBlue health insurance program.

NetworkBlue is for all BlueOptions PPO point-of-service Florida health insurance plans. More than 4,000 Florida physicians (more than half of the eligible physicians and healthcare providers for 52 percent of Blue Cross and Blue Shield's members) participated in the NetworkBlue program in 2008. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida serves more than 8.3 million members across the state.

Metcare Changes to Electronic Medical Records to Reduce Error Rates

Another leading provider of Health Insurance in Florida - Metcare - is switching to well-maintained electronic medical records, which can provide lower error rates, and greater efficacy. This change can decrease duplication of diagnostic tests throughout Florida healthcare facilities.

The new electronic system will also help to eliminate the need to check with health insurance providers to get medical records. When the electronic system is in place, Metcare members will no longer need to worry about the safety of their records only being stored in one provider's office.

These providers of Health Insurance for Florida are among many that strengthen Florida Health Insurance Plans with additional benefits and greater value. Expert advisors with years of experience working with these plans can answer your questions, and help you get the coverage that best fits your needs. Learn how you can get the most for your money now so you'll have the right coverage when you need it!


------

By Wiley Long - President, eFLhealthinsurance.com - Florida's leading independent online health insurance agency specializing in individual and family Florida Health Insurance. Get instant Florida Health Insurance quotes, compare plans, apply online, and save your hard earned money!
I started in the health insurance business in 1986, marketing directly to individuals and small businesses all over the state of Georgia. Over the next 11 years I built an agency from the ground up that eventually produced over $10,000,000 in business per year. During that time I personally met one-on-one with several thousand individuals and small business owners concerning their health insurance needs. In 2000 my wife Christie and I took a year off to travel around the world. The entire trip is documented on our website, www.longsstrangetrip.com. After 13 months, we finally left Bali and headed back to the “real” world. When we returned from Bali, we moved to Fort Collins, Colorado to both go back to school. Christie's in veterinary school, and I recently completed my master's in Nutrition and Exercise Science. In January of 2004 HSAs first became available, and HSA for America was born. In addition to running the company, I am the author of the monthly newsletter Maximize Your HSA, I have written for Agents Sales Journal, and I have been featured in American Airlines Magazine, Pregnancy Magazine, the LA Times, and numerous other publications. I am also the former editor of The Paleo Diet Newsletter. The introduction of Health Savings Accounts has created a tremendous opportunity for individuals and businesses to lower the cost of their health care, receive a generous tax-break, and save money for future medical expenses. By introducing market competition into the medical marketplace, HSAs will force doctors and hospitals to begin posting their prices and actually competing for their customers' business. As anyone with a basic understanding of economics can tell you, competition leads to lower prices and higher quality for all. Too often government programs encourage dependence and discourage personal responsibility. Health savings accounts reward people for saving for their future, and further reward them for taking care of their health. The person that puts aside money in their HSA and then doesn't use it will be rewarded with tax deductions and tax-deferred growth and a savings account that can be used to pay medical expenses during retirement. I am a big believer that individuals should take greater responsibility for their future, instead of relying on the government “nanny” to take care of them. I believe that HSAs are the best thing to happen to healthcare in a long time. They save people money, they encourage responsible behavior, and they force the medical providers to compete for our business. I started HSA for America to make it easy for people to learn about and set up these plans. Our mission is to find our clients the best plans that meet their needs, at the lowest premiums available, and to make the process easy. By helping you save money and have peace of mind, we expect to continue to earn your business for life.