The parent company of the Any, Any, Any insurance plan for Medicare beneficiaries received an official nod of approval Florida regulators. St. Petersburg-based Universal Health Care Insurance Co. has raised the required funds and met other basic requirements under a settlement with the state, the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation said in a letter to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
Chester "Chet" Burrell, the new chief executive officer of CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield, is setting an ambitious agenda for himself and his company. His goals include designing new health insurance packages to cover the uninsured, finding ways to reward doctors and hospitals for good and efficient care, controlling medical costs, and building a secure system of electronic medical records. CareFirst has 3.2 million members in Maryland, the District of Columbia and Northern Virginia.
Maryland health officials are hoping to team with Comptroller Peter Franchot this spring for a statewide effort to identify more children who are eligible for federally funded health insurance. Under the plan, Franchot's office would search through state income-tax records to find families with incomes that qualify them for participation in the State Children's Health Insurance Program, and then send letters notifying them that the program is available.
The consumer group Public Citizen has sued the Food and Drug Administration, saying the agency is ignoring calls for stronger warnings that Cipro and similar antibiotics may cause serious tendon injuries. Public Citizen wants warnings for the antibiotics upgraded to the FDA's most severe type, and for patients to get pamphlets with every bottle that describe the risk.
A federal appeals court boosted San Francisco's hopes of reviving its plan to extend health coverage to all uninsured residents. The city's program provides care at a network of hospitals and clinics for uninsured adults who are not covered by a state program for the poor or Medicare for the elderly. The annual cost is to be paid from state and local taxes, patient payments and contributions by employers who don't offer insurance.
A new California law expands the state's existing data-breach notification law to include unencrypted medical histories, information on mental or physical conditions, and medical treatments and diagnoses. Under the law, California residents must now be notified when their electronic medical information or health insurance information has been exposed.