The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has announced its award of $72 million in financing for the new Michigan Consumers Healthcare CO-OP (MCHCO), a member-governed nonprofit health insurance company that will help to control costs while providing accessible healthcare for all residents.

CMS had previously awarded seven CO-OP awards in February to begin planning their operations for 2014. The federal loans are to be paid back after their start-up.

"We've been given the opportunity to be pioneers in a new business," said Bruce Miller, president of the MCHCO Board. "It is an opportunity and an obligation we take very seriously. All of us who have worked to bring a Consumer Oriented and Operated Plan to Michigan will do our very best to make the insurance plan work to the benefit of Michigan residents."

The goal of health insurance cooperatives such as MCHCO is to make sure consumers have affordable choices when Michigan residents start shopping for government-subsidized health insurance from state insurance exchanges that are set to begin operating in 2014.

The development of MCHCO is part of the federal Affordable Care Act (ACA), which creates a new type of nonprofit health insurer, called a Consumer Operated and Oriented Plan (CO-OP). CO-OPs have member-based boards and are meant to offer member-friendly, affordable health insurance options to individuals and small businesses.

• CO-OPs will be open to all comers, including independent workers typically shut out of the traditional healthcare market.
• Americans making less than 400 percent of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL) will be eligible to receive financial support from the government to pay for their CO-OP health plan.
• The CO-OP will enter the market and compete with private insurers and offer insurance through a state-level marketplace called the Exchange. The state Exchange will be designed to make it easier for consumers to shop for and understand insurance plans.

Under the PPACA health care reform law, nearly 62,000 other "uninsurable patients are getting coverage through a little-known program for people who have been turned away by insurance companies because of pre-existing medical conditions.

"Without it, I would have been dead on March 2," Kathy Watson a Florida resident battling cancer said of the Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan, known as PCIP. That's when she was hospitalized for a life-threatening respiratory infection.

It's not clear how the Supreme Court will rule on Obama's law, but Watson's case illustrates the potential impact of tying everything in the far-reaching legislation to the fate of one provision, the unprecedented requirement that most Americans carry health insurance.

p>The law's opponents say if that insurance mandate is found to be unconstitutional, the rest of the law should also go, since courts should not be picking and choosing policy. The administration defends the insurance requirement but says if the court decides to overturn it, most of the rest of the law should stay.

State officials who administer the federal pre-existing condition plan in 27 states are trying to make fallback arrangements in case the law is invalidated and coverage suddenly terminates.

"Some of these individuals are critically ill and are being treated for very serious illnesses, whether it be cancer or HIV-AIDS, and we feel a responsibility to them to do what we can to see they don't lose access," said Amie Goldman to the Washington Post, who oversees PCIP in Wisconsin.

Federal officials who administer the plan in the remaining 23 states and Washington, D.C., remain mum on what might happen there if the law is overturned.

If the law is struck down there will be a huge outcry to shore up the PCIP, but do you think Congress will act to secure it?

Homeowners insurance premiums went up 19 percent on average nationwide, according to a report from an online insurance provider.

Homeinsurance.com, as reported in the Insurance Journal, said the typical premium for a new policy in December 2011 was $810 nationwide, up from $682 in January 2011.

The company said its quarterly RateReport data represents approximately 15,000 policies sold across the United States with various carriers including Travelers, Safeco, The Hartford, and ASI/Ark Royal.

RateReport shows that on a nationwide basis, homeowners are paying, on average, $128 more per year for new home insurance than they were at the beginning of the year.

Premium increases were more dramatic in some states than others, including Mississippi, Montana and New Mexico where new policies in December 2011 were seeing 29-39 percent higher premiums than those sold in January 2011. The increases make sens in Mississppi which saw devastating tornados in 2011. Why are rates up so dramatically in Montana and New Mexico? Readers.... any thoughts?

There were also spots with lower rates towards the end of 2011 including Washington D.C., where homeowners were paying about 7 percent less for new policies. Also new policies sold in December 2011 in Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia and California decreased in price as compared to earlier in the year when they were 1 to 3 percent higher.

In a related note there's also news that Congress may extend the NFIP for one month to the end of June while they work out a long-term fix.

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A new report on health care costs for the typical family of four are projected to reach $20,728 this year, a 6.9% increase from last year, according to the Milliman Medical Index as reported by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

In an earlier post today here I cited the opinion of Howard Dean that health care costs should have been a higher priority under ObamaCare than the individual mandate.

The index tracks the average health care costs for a typical American family of four insured through the most common health plan offered by employers.

The 6.9% increase projected for this year is the lowest in the 10 years of this study, according to Milliman, an actuarial and consulting firm with an office in Milwaukee. At the same time, the total dollar increase is the largest in that time period.

The Consumer Price Index, which measures inflation at the consumer level, increased 2.3% over the last 12 months, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Tuesday.

"This helps illustrate the challenge of controlling health care costs," Lorraine Mayne, a Milliman principal and consulting actuary, said in a news release. "When the total cost is already so high, even slower rate of growth has a serious impact on family budgets."