Under the new program known as BadgerCare Plus, every every family in Wisconsin will have access to affordable health insurance for their children. The insurance will cost $10 to $90.74 a month for each child, depending on family income. The program consolidates and simplify three existing programs that provide health insurance to low-income families in Wisconsin.
St. Louis Children's Hospital's "Building for Care, Searching for Cures" five-year campaign raised more than $130 million, administrators have announed. The funding will be used for ongoing programs and services, facility expansion and the establishment of the Children's Discovery Institute.
A proposed bill unveiled by Ohio legislators would require insurance companies to offer coverage to dependents up to age 29 and create a pool of high-risk people whose insurance would be subsidized by the state. The legislation would also help small businesses provide coverage for workers through discounts on workers' compensation premiums.
Kansas City, MO-based St. Luke's Health System has announced that it intends to terminate its contract with UnitedHealthcare on Feb. 28, 2009. The flap between St. Luke's and UnitedHealthcare is the latest example of contentious relations between health providers and insurers nationwide. Tensions between the two camps have escalated in amid growing concerns over higher healthcare costs and standards for quality and efficiency.
Capital BlueCross Chief Executive Officer Anita Smith said the merger between Highmark Inc. and Independence Blue Cross. would further stifle competition in Pennsylvania's health insurance market unless some conditions are attached. Although Highmark and IBC have testified that the merger wouldn't reduce competition in the state because the two insurers' geographic footprints don't overlap, Smith said her counterparts were omitting key details.
In his new budget, President Bush will call for large cuts in the growth of Medicare, far exceeding what he proposed last year, and he will again seek major savings in Medicaid, according to administration officials and budget documents. Over all, the 2009 budget is likely to be the first $3 trillion spending request by a president. Healthcare savings are a crucial part of Mr. Bush's plan to put the nation on track to achieve a budget surplus by 2012.