The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said that employers could eliminate health benefits for retirees when they turn 65 and become eligible for Medicare. The new regulation allows employers to establish two classes of retirees, with more comprehensive benefits for those under 65 and more limited benefits for those older. More than 10 million retirees rely on employer-sponsored health plans as a primary source of coverage or as a supplement to Medicare.
California health insurers have a duty to check the accuracy of applications for coverage before issuing policies and should not wait until patients run up big medical bills, a state appeals court ruled recently. The court also said insurers could not cancel a medical policy unless they showed that the policyholder willfully misrepresented his health or that the company had investigated the application before it issued coverage. The unanimous decision by a panel of the 4th District Court of Appeal in Santa Ana is the latest blow to California insurance companies and the way they handle policy cancellations after patients get sick and amass major medical claims.
New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine said finding health insurance for the 1.4 million New Jerseyans who lack it ranks among the state's top problems, but he doesn't expect to solve it in 2008. He said the state--facing a projected $3 billion budget deficit for next year--cannot afford it.
An Atlanta nurse led a one-woman crusade to change what she saw as the hospital's bogus billing to the federal program, risking her livelihood and career security. The hospital was regularly filing claims for inpatient services that should have been billed as outpatient or observation services, according to the whistleblower. The hospital netted millions of extra dollars by billing for the more expensive services. For her trouble, the former Atlanta hospital employee will receive $4.9 million, according to the settlement.
The modest spending increase that Congress approved for a popular children's health insurance program will maintain coverage for those already enrolled, but many lacking insurance will have to look elsewhere. Few expected such a result when 2007 began. Democrats proposed a huge spending increase on the federal-state partnership known as the State Children's Health Insurance Program.
The universal health insurance package that one chamber of California's legislature passed last week looks a lot like the one Massachusetts put in place a year earlier. Every resident will be required to have insurance, every employer must pitch in, and no one can be denied coverage because of a preexisting condition.