January will mark the start of the third year of Medicare Part D, the government prescription drug benefit. But after two years, many consumers still find the drug benefit confusing. Consumers Union recently said a government-administered benefit would save millions compared with the current system in which drug and insurance companies run private plans. This Q&A article features Kerry Weems, acting administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
A Friday funeral was set for the Northridge, CA, teenager who died last week after her insurer refused to pay for a liver transplant and then reconsidered. Cigna HealthCare, the girl's health plan, stood by its initial decision. In a memo distributed the media, the president of Philadelphia-based Cigna said the company has a record of approving coverage for more than 90 percent of all transplants requested by its members, as well as more than 90 percent of the liver transplants.
A year that began with great ambition for major expansions of health insurance in Sacramento and in other state capitals is ending with considerable uncertainty. The governors of California, Illinois and Pennsylvania proposed sweeping plans to restructure healthcare this year. But none will finish 2007 with bills passed and signed. In each state, the initiatives confronted entrenched opposition from insurance and other business lobbies that made it far more difficult to build a consensus for change than in the smaller New England states that acted in recent years.
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas has ended an 11-year legal dispute by agreeing to a $4.5 million settlement that includes $500,000 for indigent care to three hospitals.
The IRS has unveiled sweeping changes to the forms that all nonprofits must file detailing their finances, operations and community benefits. The reporting overhaul is a way of bringing more transparency and accountability to the nonprofit world. The changes affect more than 6,000 tax-exempt organizations that operate in southwestern Pennsylvania, the largest being the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.
Ohio's plan to greatly increase the number of uninsured children eligible for government health coverage in 2008 suffered a blow when Congress abandoned its monthslong effort to enact a sweeping expansion of State Children Health Insurance Program.