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Democrats move toward grouping health reform with student-aid bill

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 12:56:00 GMT

Democratic leaders announced that they were increasingly inclined to release a final healthcare bill that would not only guarantee coverage to 30 million uninsured Americans, but also vastly expand federal aid for college students, the Washington Post reports. Key Senate Democrats initially balked at combining the healthreform bill with a measure that overhauls the nation's student-loan program, but now they had warmed to the idea, the Post reports.

Democrats struggle to finish health bill

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 12:54:00 GMT

House and Senate Democratic leaders struggled to stitch together pieces of a final healthcare bill as some Democrats demanded more information about the contents of the bill and its cost, the New York Times reports. Lawmakers said they had received few details about what would be in the legislation. They were also not given the text of the latest legislation drafted by House and Senate Democratic leaders and the White House to address widespread concerns about the bill passed by the Senate in December, the Times reports.

Employers Miffed That Workers Are Not Changing Unhealthy Habits

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 12:45:00 GMT

Employers are frustrated that too many of their workers are failing to change their unhealthy habits and take advantage of health and wellness programs that include financial incentives, according to a survey by Towers Watson and the National Business Group on Health.

As costs soar, Massachusetts foresees change in health insurance rules

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 12:02:00 GMT

Massachusetts regulators announced that they will probably change the formula they use to determine how many state residents face a tax penalty for not having health insurance, because spiraling costs are making coverage unaffordable for too many people. The state's 2006 health law requires nearly everyone to have health insurance or to pay a stiff tax penalty. But several board members said that since 2006, insurance costs have risen much faster than incomes. The affordability formula the board uses is pegged to income and the cost of health insurance plans that are available in each region, the Boston Globe reports.

Massachusetts seeks fair shake in health bill

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 11:52:00 GMT

President Obama's demand to delete "special deals" in the healthcare package would eliminate $500 million in extra Medicaid cash for Massachusetts, but Massachusetts lawmakers say they are confident the state would recoup that and probably more once negotiations are complete, the Boston Globe reports. Obama has told congressional leaders to remove the deals to make the reform proposal more salable to the public. One of those deals is a Senate provision to reimburse Massachusetts and Vermont for having already expanded Medicaid coverage to a broader base of low-income people.

CT AG Charges Antitrust Practices in Health Insurance Industry

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 20:32:00 GMT

Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said his office has uncovered a potentially anticompetitive practice by health insurance companies that could raise healthcare costs and lower competition.

Poor Air Quality Leads to More Hospital Costs, Says RAND

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 16:03:00 GMT

California's long-standing and severe smog problems cause many avoidable hospitalizations that added $193 million in hospital costs between 2005 and 2007, according to a RAND Corp. report. The researchers broke the cost of that dirty air down by the number of patients treated at sample hospitals in certain high air pollution counties in the state.

Obama gets tough on healthcare fraud

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 13:58:00 GMT

President Obama has ordered a crackdown on Medicare and Medicaid waste and fraud, saying he was unleashing auditors around the country as part of a special program to ferret out government overpayments to hospitals and doctors, as well as to other contractors. "The healthcare system has billions of dollars that should go to patient care, and they're lost each and every year to fraud and abuse and massive subsidies that line the pockets of insurance company executives," Obama said during a speech.

Federal Leaders Promote ACOs as Part of Health Reform

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 13:19:00 GMT

Current and former top Medicare officials told an American's Health Insurance Plans conference on Wednesday that new directions for healthcare payment reform could include public and private collaborations, such as Accountable Care Organizations.

In St. Louis area, Obama pounds drum for healthcare initiative

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 13:01:00 GMT

President Obama made an impassioned case in Missouri Wednesday for his healthcare proposal, delivering a partisan argument for reform as industry groups prepare a multimillion-dollar advertising campaign to defeat it, the Washington Post reports. During the speech, Obama criticized his Republican opposition, Washington's wasteful spending, and rising insurance premiums. Obama is visiting media markets that touch multiple congressional districts, and intends to lobby wavering House Democrats to vote for a Senate version of the legislation and to support the subsequent reconciliation process, the Post reports.

Employers plan to shift more healthcare costs to workers, survey reports

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 13:00:00 GMT

Most big employers plan to shift a larger share of healthcare costs to their workers next year, according to a survey by the National Business Group on Health, a coalition of big employers, and Towers Watson, a consulting firm that advises companies on employee benefits. Many say they may charge more to cover spouses, tighten eligibility standards for their health plans and dispense financial rewards or penalties based on the results of certain lab tests. At some companies, employees who are overweight could be excluded from the most desirable plans. In addition, employees at many companies can expect significantly higher premiums, deductibles and co-payments, according to the survey.

Sebelius cautions health insurers about premium increases

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 12:57:00 GMT

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius warned health insurers that opposing the Obama administration's healthcare agenda and letting premium increases continue would hurt the health industry, the Wall Street Journal reports. Speaking at the America's Health Insurance Plans national policy forum, Sebelius said opposition to Democratic legislation "won't work in the long run for the American people or our healthcare system."

Health plans may have to submit rate hikes to regulators

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 12:43:00 GMT

A bill that would require health plans to submit their rate increases to government regulators before they take effect is gaining momentum in Congress, the Chicago Tribune reports. The Health Insurance Rate Authority Act of 2010 was introduced by Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-IL, and Sen. Diane Feinstein, D-CA, to give Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius "the authority to deny or modify premium and rate increases found to be unreasonable."

White House Announces Plan to Crack Down on Medicare Fraud

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 17:39:00 GMT

President Obama announced a new effort to crack down on waste and fraud in Medicare and Medicaid and other programs through expanded use of payment recapture audits. The audits offer specialized private auditors financial incentives to root out improper payments.

The Nightmare of Health Insurance Bureaucracy

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 16:36:00 GMT

Douglas Arnold, CEO of Medical Professional Services in Middletown, CT, recently spoke about the "daunting" and "administrative nightmare" of the health plan bureaucracy.

CMS Drops Fox Insurance from Medicare Part D

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 13:12:00 GMT

Saying the health insurer was jeopardizing "the health and safety" of Medicare Part D enrollees, CMS terminated its contract with Fox Insurance Company on Tuesday.

Business buys ads vs. health overhaul

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 13:09:00 GMT

Some of the largest U.S. business groups announced a multimillion-dollar television advertising campaign aimed at defeating the Democrats' pending healthcare legislation, the Wall Street Journal reports. The business coalition, Employers for a Healthy Economy, said it would run between $4 million and $10 million of ads targeting the districts of several dozen Democratic lawmakers, carrying the message that the bill would cause job losses. The ads are being funded by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other trade associations that represent a broad swath of industry, the Journal reports.

Thousands rally to support healthcare reform in downtown Washington, DC

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 13:08:00 GMT

Thousands of protesters marched through downtown Washington, DC, to criticize the health insurance industry and attempt to draw support for the Democratic proposal to overhaul the system. Organizers with Health Care for America Now, a coalition of labor and other liberal groups, targeted insurance company leaders attending a policy conference held by industry advocates. The demonstrators marched to make a mock "citizen's arrest" of insurance executives, who were demonized on demonstration posters and over the loudspeaker, the Washington Post reports.

Parliamentary hurdle could thwart latest healthcare overhaul strategy

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 13:07:00 GMT

The White House and Democratic Congressional leaders said that they were bracing for a key procedural ruling that could complicate their effort to approve major healthcare legislation by requiring President Obama to sign the bill into law before Congress could revise it through an expedited budget process, the New York Times reports. An official determination on the matter could come within days from the House and Senate parliamentarians, and could present yet another hurdle for Obama and Democratic leaders as they try to lock in support from lawmakers in the House.

Few Californians benefiting from rescission settlements

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 12:40:00 GMT

Only a small fraction of eligible Californians have benefited from agreements that Anthem Blue Cross and other insurers made to settle accusations that they systematically and illegally dropped sick policyholders to avoid paying for their care, a report has found. In settlements with the state Department of Managed Health Care and the Department of Insurance, California's largest health insurance companies agreed to offer new coverage to nearly 6,000 people they dropped after they were diagnosed with serious conditions. More than a year later, fewer than 300 people have obtained new health insurance from their former insurer under the terms of those settlements, according to the report.