A California appeals court has vacated its decision that had allowed policyholders the right to sue as a class over canceled health coverage and granted Blue Shield of California a rehearing on the hotly contested issue. The ruling called into question the practice of waiting until individual policyholders incurred medical expenses before scrutinizing their applications for misstatements--and then canceling for alleged omissions and errors.
In 2006, Medicare and its beneficiaries spent $1.24 billion on diabetes-related supplies, costs that the government hopes to rein in. Beginning this summer with 10 of the nation's largest metropolitan areas, Medicare will launch a system that involves paying a select group of suppliers a flat fee for each item. Suppliers will bid on Medicare's business, and the system will eventually be rolled out nationwide.
In the summer of 2006, Jack O. Bovender Jr. was at the helm when HCA Inc. said it would go private in one of the largest buyouts in history. A former hospital administrator who rose through HCA's ranks, Bovender is upbeat about both the deal and the company's future. In this interview with the Wall Street Journal, he discusses HCA's future and the challenges facing the healthcare industry.
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.