The Insurance Mom, brought to you by Alison Gordon Insurance Services, Inc, CA Lic. 0780178

If you’re in California and have health insurance in California, then this one’s for you.

As of 7/1/12, you’re all going to have maternity benefits added to your existing coverage.  Wahoo!

Yes, it’s true… SB 222 and AB 210, passed last year by our illustrious governor, are going to give each and every one of you this brand new benefit…

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Good news!  Anthem Blue Cross has announced that Hospital Corporation of America’s California hospitals once again participate in Anthem BC’s’ network.

In Southern California:

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IMPORTANT IMPORTANT IMPORTANT IMPORTANT

Anthem Blue Cross has been unable to re-negotiate its contracts with the following hospitals, so they are now considered out-of-network.

In Southern California:

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The Insurance Mom wants YOU to be a good money manager, and here’s one tool you can use painlessly, immediately and easily.  And, best of all, it’s free!

MyRxSavings is a pretty cool prescription discount program.  Go to the site, print out your discount card and you’re off to the land of saving money!  You can even print out manufacturer’s…

The Insurance Mom is thrilled to tell you how to save even more money on your prescriptions if you have those pesky cholesterol problems and have been taking — or are about to start taking — Lipitor.

The 17-year patent has finally expired… wahoo!  Now the drug is available in generic form.    Atorvastatin is the generic name to ask about…

Getting a prescription from your doctor doesn’t mean you don’t have choices about how to spend your money.

Ask your doctor if a generic drug is available and make sure it’s in the same class of drugs as the expensive brand name drug he wants to you to buy.

Generics have the same active ingredients, strengths and dose as the…

Need to get lab work done, such as blood or urine tests, PAP test or biopsy?

Think about using a lab that isn’t located in or part of a hospital.

They’re often way less expensive than a hospital lab, and some health insurance plans have a lower co-pay for outside labs.

And many outside labs have more flexible hours, like…

If you have a health problem that isn’t an emergency and you can’t see your regular doctor, think about going to an in-network retail clinic, walk-in doctor’s office or urgent care center.

They can take less time than an emergency room, are open nights and weekends and could save you a TON o’money!

… die?   It’s expensive!  Cedars Sinai Medical Center billed Medicare $132,000 (yes!) for ONE week of care.    I don’t want this to be morose but I do want to use my father’s death a couple of months ago as a life lesson about how to be pro-active in your own medical care.

The doctors wanted to run every diagnostic test they…

OpenTable for MDs

This recently came across The Insurance Mom’s e-desk and, although I can’t give it a thumbs up or down, it does look intriguing!   Let me know how it works for you.

Waiting days for a doctor’s appointment can make you extremely uneasy — not only do you not know what that lump is, but, more importantly, how…