From the Cleveland Plain Dealer:

“The survey of state-level enforcement found Ohio doesn’t require insurers to sell coverage to everyone who applies for it or prohibit higher premiums based on health status, like states including New York, Massachusetts and Vermont.

However, Ohio regulators review some rate and premium increases before insurers can charge them, and the state has an external review program where consumers can appeal denials, the study said.

A spokesman for the Ohio Department of Insurance said Thursday that no one was available to discuss the study’s findings.
A December 2007 study on individual health insurance by the trade-industry group America’s Health Insurance Plans, found that 89 percent of applicants are offered coverage, and that Ohio’s average premium is $2,498 for an individual and $5,303 for a family.

My take: It’s not such a bad thing that Ohio’s health insurers can charge higher rates to those applicants that are in poor health. Otherwise, rates would dramatically increase for EVERYONE…especially those in good health. Remember…Ohio has an “Open Enrollment” for persons that may not qualify for individual coverage.
From The Dayton Daily News:

“When Ohioans don’t buy their health insurance through employers or other groups, they usually don’t have very good insurance.

An Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield subsidiary has signed a consent order with the Ohio Department of Insurance agreeing that its online provider directory for mental health providers in Hamilton County is inaccurate and therefore misleading to consumers.

According to a news release, the Department of Insurance investigated a complaint that the Community Insurance Co. was misrepresenting its provider network by identifying providers as “in network” when the providers were unreachable, not in the company’s network or in the network, but not accepting new patients.

UnitedHealthcare’s contract with OhioHealth — the parent company of hospitals such as Grant Medical Center and Doctors, Dublin Methodist and Riverside Methodist — expires June 9, and negotiations are coming down to the wire, 10TV’s Lindsey Seavert reported.

The insurer informed customers recently that unless a new contract is signed soon, they may have to change doctors and hospitals to remain in UnitedHealthcare’s network.

UnitedHealthcare has more than 280,000 members in central Ohio.

Jeff Oster, DPM has created Myfootshop.com which offers help on foot and ankle problems in articles and discussion forums by experts and patients with similar problems.

It’s expensive to get sick. Co-pays and deductibles are up. Fewer and fewer services are considered covered services by your insurance company. Or even worse, you have no health insurance at all. With or without health insurance, it seems that any time you are sick, you still pay your own way.

A recent study found that between 2001 and 2005, health insurance premiums in Ohio rose by 34 percent to an average of $10,662, up from $7,944. The national average for growth was nearly 30 percent.

The study, by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the State Health Access Data Center, also reported that about 8,000 Ohio companies stopped providing health coverage during that time, affecting more than 515,000 workers.

For additional Ohio health insurance information, please visit http://www.ohioquotes.com