A proposed  health insurance rate hike in New Mexico prompted death threats against top staff at Blue Cross Blue Shield, according to TV station KOB. Extra security was hired to protect high ranking Blue Cross Blue Shield officials at a hearing held this week in Santa Fe. There were also four additional officers provided by the Public Regulation Commission, according to reports.

The hearing was held in response to Blue Cross Blue Shield’s request to regulators to approve a 21.3 percent rate increase on 12 of their insurance plans. The proposed hike would impact thousands of residents in New Mexico, according to KOB. State officials listened to information provided by the Attorney General’s office and Blue Cross Blue Shield about whether or not the hike was justified and necessary.

Towards the end of the hearing the public was allowed to provide their thoughts on the proposed increase. Many argued that it wasn’t necessary when Blue Cross Blue Shield has a reported reserve fund of about $7 billion, according to KOB. But Blue Cross Blue Shield argued that the $7 billion was for emergencies like pandemics and said that higher expenses warranted a rate hike. Company officials say they actually needed a 36 percent increase to break even, but settled on 21.3 percent increase. Officials aren’t expecting any decisions to be made for about a month.

The government is back at it, with the ‘it’ being health insurance negotiations. After a short breather and a regrouping of pro and con forces, President Obama has proposed a new health insurance bill that will cost $950 billion over 10 years. There are a lot of questions, of course, concerning how to pay for the almost trillion dollars of expense, but that will need a lot more debate. In the meantime, consumers want to know what this bill means for their families and their household expenses.

In other words, consumers want to talk about the nitty gritty of how these proposals are going to impact their ability to get and/or keep health insurance and how much it will cost. All the partisan bickering is getting tiresome for many consumers, but they will have to listen to a lot more before a health care bill ever makes it to the Obama’s desk.

In the meantime, the same consumer question remains: what will it cost ME? The new Obama plan remains as ambitious as the old plan. The White House says the new Obama plan makes health insurance more affordable for those Americans in the lower to middle income tax bracket. The plan would add approximately 31 million people to health insurance plans by offering tax credits to offset the cost of the policy. In addition, the Medicaid program would be expanded. Medicaid is funded with both federal and state funds.

The Obama plan also includes new taxes. One of the taxes is on high value insurance plans often called “Cadillac Plans”. A 40 percent tax would be charged on insurance plans that cost more than $27,500 a year and would start in 2018. Fees are placed on drug makers too.

In addition, there is a mandate ordering all Americans to carry health insurance. This particular provision in the bill is highly unpopular with some consumers. People who refuse to get health insurance would have to pay the higher of a 2.5 percent income tax as a penalty or a flat annual fine of $695. There is an exemption for lower income people. The purpose of the mandate is to force healthy people into the insurance pool so that health insurance premiums do not have to go significantly higher.

Yet those who have interpreted the financial impact of the Obama plan say that health insurance premiums will increase by as much as 39 percent.

Another provision in the bill is that employers with more than 50 people on the payroll are required to offer health insurance to employees. If the employer fails to offer insurance then the workers will get a government subsidy to purchase insurance elsewhere and the employer must pay a $2,000 fine per worker.

Senior citizens would see cuts in Medicare Advantage too. This is a program that offers Medicare benefits through private insurance.

There is no public option in the Obama plan.

What happens now? That is the big question. The President convened a bipartisan summit but most do not expect much bipartisan support to come out of it. But President Obama has made one thing clear: He expects some kind of health care overhaul bill to be passed in the near future.

Domestic partner health insurance is an insurance that can be shared by an unmarried couple who have a committed relationship. When you think of couples sharing insurance plans you usually think of married couples but this type of insurance extends to unmarried opposite sex and same sex couples.

Managed Care health insurance has a fairly long history. This type of insurance has been in existence since the 1930s, but recently became a lot more popular in the last twenty years as people began to learn of its many benefits. Nowadays, most of the group insurance offered by companies to their employees is a type of managed care policy.