eHealthInsurance is offering up tips for making the most of your insurance dollars before the year ends. “Many health insurance consumers aren’t aware that their health insurance benefits and deductibles may reset on New Year’s Day,” said eHealthInsurance Vice President of Customer Care, Gary Matalucci in a news release. ”We recommend that people with individually-purchased or employer-sponsored health insurance re-familiarize themselves with their benefits in December of each year to make the most of their coverage before the next benefit cycle begins.”

Look for Calendar-Year Benefits: Some health plans pay for annual physicals and exams. You may also be eligible for a teeth cleaning or vision check-up.

Take Advantage of Discounts: Some insurance companies offer discounts for gyms. If you’re planning to buy a membership check for this money-saving perk.

Use Your Deductible: If you’ve already met your deductible for 2010, you may want to take advantage of last-minute claims for the year that would be completely covered.

Keep Tabs of FSA and HSA Funds: Most Flexible Spending Accounts sponsored by employers don’t allow the money to roll over to the  next year. Ask your human resource department what your terms are. Also, starting in 2011 FSA and HSA funds can no longer be used to pay for most over-the-counter medicines so you may want to stock up before the year ends.

Check Your Mail: Health insurance companies will commonly send out notices at the end of the year if they plan to make changes to your account. Make sure that when these changes are issued that you’re still using a health care plan that works for you.

A federal judge in Florida announced that a lawsuit could proceed that claims that requiring Americans to buy health insurance is unconstitutional. Twenty states are involved in the lawsuit. US District Judge Roger Vinson rejected an effort by the Obama administration to have the case thrown out, according to the Los Angeles Times. Vinson’s decision was similar to one made by a federal judge in Virginia. “To say that something is ‘novel’ or ‘unprecedented’ does not necessarily mean that it is ‘unconstitutional’ or ‘improper.’ There may be a first time thing for anything,” Vinson wrote in his 65-page ruling, according to the LA Times. Continuing he wrote, “the plaintiffs have at least stated a plausible claim that the line has been crossed.” Florida is leading the challenge to the new healthcare law and 19 states have joined including:

• Alabama
• Alaska
• Arizona
• Colorado
• Georgia
• Indiana
• Idaho
• Louisiana
• Michigan
• Mississippi
• Nebraska
• Nevada
• North Dakota
• Pennsylvania
• South Carolina
• South Dakota
• Texas
• Utah
• Washington

Louisiana is the only state not led by a Republican attorney general or governor. “This ruling is a victory for the states, small businesses and the American people,” Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum said in a statement Thursday according to the LA Times. “It is the first step to having the individual mandate declared unconstitutional and upholding state sovereignty in our federal system.”

According to the American Medical News, spokeswoman Tracy Schmaler said the Dept. of Justice will continue to defend the new law and is confident their arguments will come out on top. “This case is in the early stages of litigation, and the department will continue to vigorously defend this law in ongoing litigation,” she said according to AMN. In Michigan, US District Judge George C. Steeh dismissed a third challenge arguing that the insurance requirement was unconstitutional. The next step comes December 16 when both sides will present their cases in a courtroom during a summary judgment hearing.

Government programs are helping kids get insurance, and not just those in households below the poverty line. The New York Times interviewed Dean McCrea, a 55-year-old widow who lost his job when his employer went out of business. McCrea could no longer afford insurance for him and his 16-year-old son, but recently he was able to get help through a program called Healthy Kids. It’s a state-run health insurance program for middle class families. McCrea was able to get his son insurance for just $38 a month. “A lot of people in my circle, solid middle-class families, are struggling,” McCrea told The New York Times. “The peace of mind that this program has supplied me is not measurable.”

According to the Census Bureau, the number of insured children under the age of 19 was just under 91 percent which is a record high. “To a surprising extent, the government has really stepped up to provide affordable coverage options for middle-class kids, along with their lower-income counterparts,” Jocelyn Guyer, co-executive director of the Center for Children and Families at Georgetown University, told the New York Times. “It’s a success story.”

That means that close to ten percent of children, or seven million, don’t have insurance. But experts say more than  half could qualify for government insurance through programs like Medicaid and CHIP (the Children’s Health Insurance Program). “Our biggest obstacle has been to convince families that don’t qualify for food stamps or other subsidies that they qualify for our program,” Cathy Kaufmann, administrator of the Healthy Kids program in Oregon, told The New York Times. Children in families of four with incomes of up to $44,100 qualify for certain government insurance programs. And if you live in a state like New York where the cost of living is higher, families of four can earn over $88,000 and still qualify.

Eligibility varies greatly depending on which state you live. But in a dozen states, even if you earn too much you still may be able to buy in to to more affordable CHIP policies. Finding out if you qualify is easy. Just visit InsureKidsNow.gov to find out about what’s available in your state. You can also visit the government’s new health insurance website Healthcare.gov to search for child-only policies. Plug in your child’s information and you’ll immediately have access to various policies at different price points so you can make an educated decision about keeping your child insured.

McDonald’s Corp. says the health care overhaul may force many of its franchises to close. According to a report by the Kansas City Star, The Department of Health and Human Services is having some serious discussions with the fast food giant over impending changes in health insurance. New regulations force health plans to spend at least 80 percent of premium dollars on medical costs, which is what McDonald’s has an issue with. According to reports, the company worries that forcing these ratios will force franchises out of business. McDonald’s says it may have to change its current insurance plan.

Government officials say they’re working closely with business like McDonald’s to work through issues with the insurance ratios. “Medical-loss ratios are important because they demonstrate to the employer or family that premium dollars are being used on health care,” Illinois Department of Insurance Director Michael McRaith told the Kansas City Star. McRaith and other insuranc commissioners are developing guidelines on medical-loss ratios for the Obama administration. The government plans to issue guidance about the ratios by the end of the year so that companies have a better idea as to what is considered a medical expense and what isn’t.

New data released by the Census Bureau shows that there has been a record increase in the number of people without health insurance. Nearly one in six US residents, or about 50 million people, were uninsured in 2009, according to the report. Previously the number of uninsured Americans was at 46.3 million and authorities say the reasons for the jump include job loss, companies axing health care benefits, and families cutting costs.

Another reason could be that it costs more. Statistics show that workers pay 47% more to keep their families insured than they did in 2005. “Eventually, more people will be covered if everything goes the way it should starting in 2014,” Helen Darling, president of the National Business Group on Health, which represents large employers, told USA Today. “But that’s four years away, and there’s going to be a lot of financial pain and economic burden before 2014.” In 2014, the newly passed health care bill will take effect and some say this report will increase support of that move.  “If ever one needed an affirmation about how essential the Affordable Care Act is, this is that affirmation,” Ron Pollack, executive director of the health consumers group Families USA, told USA Today. “The clear message for people now is that help will be on the way.”

Healthcare reform may have won the votes it needed in Congress, but it has yet to win the support of public opinion. The latest poll conducted by USA Today/Gallup found that 56% of people disapprove of the new law. “The White House and its allies won the legislative debate. They lost the debate in the court of public opinion,” Robert Moffit, director of the Center for Health Policy Studies at the conservative Heritage Foundation, told USA Today.

This increase in uninsured Americans isn’t a complete surprise since layoffs have soared. Some of the findings of the report include:

* Those in low-income households are three times more likely to be uninsured than those with an income over $75,000.

* Among race groups, Asian households had the highest median income in 2009.

* In 2009, households in the West and Northeast had the highest median household incomes.

* The Northeast had the lowest uninsured rate in 2009.

A new government report issued by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) says they’re not so sure that healthcare reform will slow healthcare spending. In fact, the experts are predicting that spending will increase at an average rate of 6.3 percent which is .2 percent more than spending would have grown if Obama’s plan had not become law.

According to ABC News, nearly one in five US dollars spent in 2019 will go towards healthcare costs. While the report predicts added expenditures, it also points to the fact that more people will be covered under the plan. They predict that roughly 93 percent of Americans will have health insurance in 2019, an additional 32.5 million people compared to current data.

The experts behind the report see the main expenditures of implementing the new health care program to be $38 billion spend on establishing new health insurance exchanges and a $31 billion increase in the cost of Medicaid. While they predict higher spending over the next decade, the researchers did not delve into predictions after 2019.

Even though the healthcare bill hasn’t begun yet, some changes have already started which are increasing expenditures. The creation of a temporary high-risk insurance pool and providing coverage to dependents under the age of 26 are two moves adding $10 billion to national health spending through 2013, according to ABC News. “While the impacts are relatively moderate on net spending, the underlying effects on coverage and financing are more pronounced,” Andrea Sikso, an economist with CMS’ Office of the Actuary and lead author of the study told ABC News reporters Wednesday. “When you peel back the onion, and you look past the surface, you start to see much more pronounced impacts,” John Poisal, deputy director of the National Health Statistics Group at CMS’ Office of the Actuary, and one of the authors of the study, told ABC News.

Employers are still the main source for insurance coverage for most Americans, according to The Columbus Dispatch. Nearly 70 percent of employers offer health coverage which is an increase of about 10 percent compared to last year. That sounds like good news, but even though about 157 million people receive insurance through their jobs, that doesn’t mean they’re not paying for it.

A new survey released from the Kaiser Family Foundation found that Americans will pay about $4,000 to cover their families with health insurance through work. That’s a 14 percent increase, $482 more, compared to 2009 numbers. The main reason workers are being forced to pay more is because a slow economy is forcing companies to push more of the burden on their employees. The price of family policies increased by three percent to $13,770 according to Bloomberg.com. “Businesses have been shifting more of the costs of health insurance to workers through premiums, deductibles and other cost-sharing,” Drew Altman, Kaiser Family Foundation Chief Executive Officer, said in a statement according to Bloomberg.com. “From a consumer perspective, the cost of health insurance just keeps going up faster than wages.”

Wages have increased by about 18 percent while inflation rose 12 percent since 2005. During that same time employees have experienced a 47 increase in their insurance contributions, while premium costs have increased 27 percent. And even though workers are paying more and more each year, they’re actually receiving less coverage. In 2010 more than one out of four employees had deductibles of at least $1,000. “What insurance is in this country is gradually changing. It’s becoming less comprehensive. It looks less and less like the comprehensive coverage their parents got,” Altman told Bloomberg.com. “From the perspective of working people, they’re getting less for more.”

Experts believe large employers are pushing the trend of having employees handle more of the health care cost burden. “We’re seeing that the continued economic downturn is leading to more burden for employees,” Kaiser Foundation Vice President Gary Claxton told Bloomberg.com. He believes that the health care overhaul will help lower insurance costs. “We don’t know how quickly that might happen. At least in the early years, I’m not sure health reform is going to mean that workers are going to face lower contribution amounts,” he said.

Missouri voters hit the polls to vote on Proposition C. They were the first in the country to speak their minds with ballots on whether health care should be mandatory. And voters said loud and clear, no. About 71 percent of Missouri voters supported Proposition C, which prohibits the government requiring citizens to carry health insurance or from penalizing anyone who doesn’t.

But what the vote actually accomplishes is up for debate. Federal law always trumps state law, but some say it may change the outcome of the upcoming November elections. According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Republican National Chairman Michael Steele believes it’s a big blow to the Obama administration and believes it’s a sign that Republicans will regain the majority in November. “By rejecting ObamaCare with nearly three-quarters of the vote in a critical swing state, Missouri sent a clear message to Democrats and the Obama administration that government-run health care is a gross overreach of the federal government that needs to be repealed and replaced,” Steele said in a statement to the Post-Dispatch.

Other states have similar upcoming votes including Arizona and Oklahoma. Georgia, Idaho, Louisiana and Virginia have passed similar measures, but did not put them on a ballot.

Next Tuesday Missouri voters will tell the world what they think of the recently passed federal Health Care Reform Act when they head to the polls. Missourians are the first in the nation to vote on the issue. They’ll be voting on Proposition C, a law that would prohibit the government from forcing people or businesses to buy health insurance, according to Fox 4 News.

If it passes, the public would be saying that the government could not issue fines to those who refuse to buy health insurance. But, a no vote would mean they support health care reform. “If Proposition C is passed, it’s also going to cause a lot of the uninsured to continue going uninsured,” Mase Hakes, who plans to vote “no” on Proposition C, told Fox 4 News. “And no one will be forced to change their policy if they’re happy with something they already have, they don’t have to change it. This is just something to make it available for those who cannot.”

According to the Associated Press, a recent Mason-Dixon poll conducted for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and KMOV found that 61 percent of people opposed the federal health care law. Federal law says that the new health insurance program will go into affect in 2014.

The Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan is kicking into gear. President Obama signed the Affordable Care Act into law back in March, which included the creation of the PCIP which makes health insurance available to those who aren’t able to get it because of a pre-existing condition. There are some requirements you must meet in order to be eligible for this government insurance.

• You must have been uninsured for at least six months.
• You must have a pre-existing condition or have been denied health coverage because of your health condition.
• You must be a US citizen or be residing here legally.

This program is only temporary and will only be in affect until 2014 when access to affordable health insurance becomes mandatory. The programs are run differently in each state so you’ll need to research your state’s PCIP. However, funds are limited so many states are offering the program first come first served.

But if you are able to secure a place in the program you will receive benefits such as:

• Coverage for primary, specialty and hospital care as well as prescription drug coverage.
• Fair premiums that aren’t based on your existing condition.
• Premiums that aren’t based on income level.