 
NASRO - Standard Health Insurance Plans - Powered By: Quotit.com
What We As a Non-Profit Offer for Free
- Multiple Dual Option Plans from Different Carriers
- Organization of a Large Multi-Employer Co-op
- Coverage for Out of State Employees in 50 States
- HIPPA Plan Enrollment
- Benefits Administration of Open Enrollment
- Assistance Filling Out Enrollment Forms
- Administration of New Hire Enrollment
- COBRA and California COBRA Administration
- Employee Advice on California Medical System
- Claims Analysis
- Health Insurance Company Appeals
- Coverage for 1099 Employees
- Advice on Compliance with State & Federal Laws
- Coordination with California Government Agencies
- Reinsurance Coverage
The National Association of Socially Responsible Organizations (NASRO) of California is a group and individual health insurance administrator. Founded by health care consumer advocate Robert Gaw, it is working hard for you and is able to recommend, as a free service, the best individual health insurance and small group health insurance that are available in California at a more affordable rate, to fit your situation.
Robert Gaw, NASRO President & Founder
If you are preparing for your annual California health insurance plan renewal, starting a new business, are currently on an expensive COBRA plan from a previous job, expanding operations in California, or just need to lower your monthly health insurance costs then you need to know more about NASRO. You are not alone, we can help you. We have worked hard for decades to help establish a more humane health care system in California. Unfortunately, there is still much work to be done in California. NASRO is helping to make sure that all the health insurance options available in California are communicated professionally. If you have a question or a problem please call us. We can offer advice on a wide range of health care subjects beyond California health insurance rates.
If after looking at the quotes you have questions about the benefits of the plans or the enrollment application process please give us a call. We can help you complete the on line applications and prepare you to answer the questions you will be asked.
Large Group Medical Insurance Plans
Aetna
Anthem Blue Cross
California Blue Shield
California Choice
CIGNA
Health Net
Kaiser Permanente
Sharp
NASRO Member Organizations with More Affordable California Health Insurance Include
- Artists & Actor Organizations
- Studios
- Graphic Design Firms
- Film Makers
- Accountants
- Lawyers
- Medical Providers
- Writers
- Musicians
- Computer Software Developers
- Construction Companies
- Skilled Trades People
- Schools
- Social Service Organizations
- Religious Organizations
- Green Businesses
- Transportation Companies
- Business Consultants
- Automotive Businesses
- Social Workers
- Photographers
Short Cuts for Individuals and Families
For Individuals and Families paying for their own health insurance in California it is important not to wait until you have a medical condition before you purchase health insurance. Once you have a medical condition, even a minor one, as inhuman as it seems, the health insurance companies can turn you down and refuse to provide any coverage.
If you recently have had group coverage from a previous employer, you have 63 days after the end of your group plan to pick up an individual plan and not be subject to medical underwriting. If you have a pre-existing medical condition and are applying for individual health insurance coverage there is an excellent chance all the health insurers will turn you down for coverage. HIPPA the federal law we have worked with since 1996 protects individuals from being turned down for health insurance coverage, under certain conditions. Call our office for more information 800-638-8113.
Since age rating is the only option, the younger you are the more affordable the health plans are. The older you are the more the premium costs go up. Young families may actually be able to afford more coverage to protect their children and older individuals who are healthy can find plans that provide good access to routine physicals, unlimited sick visits and prescription drug coverage and carry a larger deductible for the less likely to occur inpatient admissions.
Below is an example of one plan, but we suggest you try are on line system link above for quick and easy access to many plan options, provider look up information and on line fast sign that we can start filling out for you.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are my options if I lose my group health insurance coverage at work and I am not eligible for COBRA?
If you have been covered for 18 months by a previous group plan you earn HIPPA rights that allow you to qualify for a plan with carriers such as Anthem Blue Cross, Blue Shield, Kaiser, Health Net and Aetna where you are guaranteed acceptance by the federal government, regardless of your pre-existing medical conditions and your height/weight ratio. NASRO can help walk you through the process, make sure that you qualify and have access to the health insurance you have a right to.
If you do not have pre-existing conditions and finding a good affordable plan is your goal, NASRO can help provide you with focused options at no additional cost to you.
What can I do if I can not balance the rising cost of health insurance premiums with the lower income I am earning as a result of the recession?
First you should know that this sad state of affairs is pushing the federal government to very soon enact major changes to how the health insurance industry is run this year. While waiting for that new day we suggest that you review your benefit plans once again to make sure that the plan you currently have is allowing you to have access to the health care benefits you actually use. NASRO can help you with that process.
The Immoral Practice of Pre-Existing Conditions Underwriting and Individual Health Insurance in California - If Turned Down for Coverage and Have Been Previously Been Covered by a Group Plan for the Previous 18 Months, Call NASRO for Rates, Benefits and an Enrollment Form
NASRO believes strongly that the fast growing number of individuals who need affordable health insurance in California should be provided the right to buy the same health insurance plans for the same price, as anyone else, with their own money. We believe it is a sin for health insurance companies to " play God " with the lives of people. Turning down people with any form of illness large or small is severely limiting their economic lives.
Help with some COBRA premium costs provided in the recent "stimulus bill ", is great for people who work for large employers, but most people do not work for large employers. Unemployment could rise reach 15% in California by the end of 2009 and prudent financial planning needs to be made now.
NASRO does not yet have a group plan in California that will accept individuals that have been turned down for coverage. We are working for a new National Health Care law to accomplish this mission. In the meantime, we will assist any self employed person in California that needs to know how to qualify for group coverage right now.
NASRO Personal Service in California From Our Office in Los Angeles
What People Are Saying About Us!
" I have nothing but praise for the good folks at NASRO ( National Association of Socially Responsible Organizations ). If you've ever dealt with insurance providers, you know that the usual goal of the person who answers the phone is to say " no " and hang up as quickly as possible. My experience with Barbara Gibson at NASRO Co-op could not have been more different.
She actually did the math on whether it would be better for me to stick with COBRA for 18 months before switching to the NASRO plan. The one time I actually had a problem with coverage for a medical condition, she not only straightened it out, but remembered to ask me if I was feeling better after the procedure.
Deborah Elizabeth Finn
Information Technology Management Consultant
P. S. Full disclosure. NASRO does not compensate me in any way for praising it immoderately. I am just a fan."
NASRO Non Profit, Co-op and Small Business Members Include
- Community Builders Worker Cooperative
- International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War
- International HIV/AIDS Alliance
- Jobs with Justice
- Act Blue
- Women In Film and Video
- Alliance to Defend Health Care
- Health Care For All
- National Pancreas Foundation
- Working Assets
- Forum on Democracy and Trade
- A1 Auto Body
- Blue Sky Dogs
- AFC Mentoring
- Gnaristas
- CDA Learning Projects
- Climate Technologies
- Carando Gourmet Foods
Carriers with Individual Health Insurance Plans in California
Anthem Blue Cross
of California
Anthem Blue Cross Life and Health
Blue Shield of California
Kaiser Permanente
Celtic
Healthnet
PacifiCare
Apply On Line at the top of the page or Call NASRO with any questions at 800-638-8113/424-237-9647
Need More Information?
California Health Insurance Plan Brochures for Small Business and Non-Profits. Dual Choice Options Are Available From the Same Health Plan or from Different Health Plans
Anthem Blue Cross of California
Blue Shield of California
Blue Shield of California Small Group Plan Summaries Effective July 1, 2009
Blue Shield of California Comparison of Small Group Benefits Excel Spreadsheet Effective July 1, 2009
Kaiser Permanente
Copayment Plans
$50 Co-pay Plan
$30 Co-pay Plan
$20 Co-pay Plan
$15 Co-pay Plan
$5 Co-pay Plan
Health Net
PacifiCare
Aetna
United Healthcare
Affordable Dental Insurance Plans
Sign Up On Line at Anytime At the Top of the Page
Delta Dental
Anthem Blue Cross
Blue Shield of California
PacifiCare
Vision Plans
VSP Signature Plan
VSP Specialty Care
VSP Voluntary Plan
Call NASRO for rates and enrollment information - 800-638-8113/ 424-237-9647
Medicare Supplement and Medicare Advantage Health Insurance Plans for People 65 and Over
Short Term & Long Term Disability Insurance
Metropolitan Life Insurance Company
UNUM Life Insurance Company
West Coast Life Insurance Company
See through the mist and confusion surrounding finding affordable health insurance with the help of a recognized non-profit like NASRO.
Enrollment Tips
- We are able to immediately process individual applications on line
- If you are having trouble filling out the enrollment form just fax it to NASRO at 800-638-8113 or email it to bgibson@nasro-co-op.org
Health Insurance Is Also Available In:
Washington
Oregon
Massachusetts
Maryland
Washington D.C.
Virginia
New York
Georgia
North Carolina
Illinois
NASRO is working for California communities
National Association of Socially Responsible Organizations
Robert Gaw
President & Founder
NASRO of California
609 Deep Valley Drive, Suite 200
Los Angeles , California
90274
424-237-9647
800-638-8113
Fax - 800-562-8588
NASRO Eastern Office
Two Canal Park, Fifth Floor
Cambridge, Massachusetts
02141
617-308-1525
NASRO Washington D.C. Office
3204 18th Street N.W.
Washington D.C. 20010
202-486-5831
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NASRO of California
609 Deep Valley Drive, Suite 200
Los Angeles , California
90274
424-237-9647
800-638-8113
Federal Health Care Reform Is Looking More Like Just Another Small Step Too Far on a Long Journey
The health care and the health insurance industry are now in a position by the end of negotiations to have stopped real health care reform that will lower prices from happening.
But doing away with individual medical underwriting, providing massive funding to help working people afford to buy their own plan and setting a floor for comprehensive benefits is itself a worthy accomplishment.
First quarter 2010 premium rate increases continue to be double digit from what we witness daily from our work and the health insurance industry is as arrogant as ever. There will be no controls on prices in the end which means benefits will continue to decline. The only worthwhile aspect of the bill is the elimination of medical underwriting and we are concerned that hidden in the final details of the bill coming out of conference committee that industry will find a way to make the sick pay too high a price for having access to coverage.
As far as the campaigns for universal health health care goes, a whole new generation of supporters has been recruited to the movement. People who have participated in health care reform campaigns have increased their knowledge base considerably over the past two years. Certain leading Democrats and labor leaders who choose to stand with Blue Cross and the other large carriers have been exposed as the collaborators that they are.
In the end we end up with health insurance reform and not health care reform. This should not come as a surprise to people.
New Study Links High Rates of Heart Disease and Stroke to Low Levels of Vitamin D
By Joene Hendry
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Low vitamin D levels in the body may be deadly, according to a new study hinting that adults with lower, versus higher, blood levels of vitamin D may be more likely to die from heart disease or stroke.
Vitamin D is an essential vitamin mostly obtained from direct sunlight exposure, but also found in foods and multivitamins.
Dr. Annamari Kilkkinen, at the National Institute for Health and Welfare in Helsinki, Finland, and colleagues compared blood levels of vitamin D and deaths from heart disease or stroke over time in 2,817 men and 3,402 women in Finland.
At enrollment, participants were just over 49 years old on average, and had no indicators of cardiovascular disease, the researchers note in the American Journal of Epidemiology.
During follow-up of about 27 years on average, 640 of the participants (358 men) died from heart disease and another 293 (122 men) died from stroke.
Compared with participants' with the highest vitamin D, those with the lowest had 25 percent higher risk of dying from heart disease or stroke, Kilkkinen noted in an email to Reuters Health.
There was a "particularly striking association" between vitamin D levels and stroke deaths, the researcher noted, in that having the lowest vitamin D seemed to confer "twice the risk," compared with having the highest vitamin D.
Allowing for age, gender, and other demographic factors, plus alcohol intake, smoking, physical activity, and season in which vitamin D levels were obtained did not significantly alter these associations.
In this study, vitamin D levels were "substantially lower" than levels thought to be sufficient, and "somewhat lower" than those reported in previous studies in other European and American populations.
However, there is no "absolute consensus" as to what the optimal range of vitamin D should be, the investigators note. Also, it's not known whether low vitamin D actually causes increased risk for heart disease or stroke. Clearly, further study is needed, they conclude.
SOURCE: American Journal of Epidemiology, October 15, 2009
California Budget
Cuts to Cost 2
Million Their
Health Care Plan
California Health Care Trends for 2009
Los Angeles: In any recession a number of difficult health care trends start to emerge that are fairly self evident. What needs to be watched out for is how deep this recession will go,that is beyond the experiences of our recent past. Predictions by the Economic Policy Institute for example, call for planning for unemployment rising as high as 15% over the next two years. Because of the compounding of the loss of jobs, with housing foreclosures, loss of home equity and retirement savings that is being experienced at the same time, the following trends are likely.
- Unemployed people lose their health insurance
- State health programs developed during the good times start to disappear during the bad times
- The Hospital emergency room becomes extremely busy as they along with the Community Health Centers become the health care provider of last resort for people without coverage.
- Public Hospitals treatment for surgical procedures also becomes very busy and waits for surgery occur.
Educate Yourself
• NASRO's mission in health care particularly concerns the situation facing small businesses, non-profits, individuals, self employed people and independent contractors.
Please read this excellent resource developed by the California Health Care Foundation and call NASRO at 800-638-8113 with any questions and for a rate proposal on the health plans you are interested in looking at.
Developing the Right Criteria For Selecting Your Next California Health Insurance Plan
Right now in California if you are an individual who has a pre-existing medical condition and you are middle income the plans available for so called high risk people are beyond the financial reach of many people. If you are high income and have pre existing conditions you will be able to find a plan that you can afford. For the insurance industry to deny Californians who are sick access to health insurance is a sin. Other states have provided coverage for 20 years and their insurance companies are doing well.
The size of the population of individuals in California is huge, with many hundreds of thousands of new people moving from being covered by an employer to being responsible for their own health plan throughout any year.
Rules Governing CA Individual Insurance Market
• NASRO does have individual plans available from a wide choice of carriers
•
Employer groups and self employed people are now free to join NASRO at no cost. With its growing numbers NASRO is leveraging our membership to change the economics of California health insurance. Membership is confidential and not subject to distribution to any outside groups.
Contact
NASRO Co-op
800-638-8113
424-237-9647
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