Columbia, S.C.-based BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina has added a twist to its customer service by opening a strip-mall store to sell policies and answer questions. The insurer will peddle individual, group, and children's health insurance and offer wellness seminars at its SC BlueStore, which opened recently in Mount Pleasant.
Patients are getting hammered by huge unexpected charges on medical bills, particularly in the tricky area of what's in and out of network. Finding out the real prices is often difficult for consumers—and made even harder because federal law prohibits any discussion in emergency room situations that would discourage patients from seeking treatment, a provision that providers sometimes use to explain why they don't talk about network or price issues.
Congress is poised to pass legislation would renew and expand the popular State Children's Health Insurance Program to cover four million more children over a period of more than four years. The program, which now covers 6.7 million children, is set to expire March 31. The legislation passed the House by a 289-139 vote on Jan. 14, and the Senate Finance Committee by a 12-7 vote the next day. The Senate is considering it and will likely vote soon.
A growing number of workers in 2009 will pay more for health benefits, and in some cases receive less coverage, as their employers grapple with the financial fallout of rising medical expenses and diminished revenue and profits, recent surveys of human resource officials show. The Corporate Executive Board found in a survey that a quarter of officials from 350 large corporations said they had increased deductibles an average of 9% in 2008. But 30% of the employers said they expected to raise deductibles an average of 14% in 2009.
Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson has accused Allina Hospitals and Clinics of charging patients unlawfully high interest rates on unpaid medical bills and filed a lawsuit that could affect the bills of thousands of consumers. Allina charged patients interest rates as high as 18% on medical debt, even though, Swanson asserted, Minnesota law caps rates on such debt at 8%. Swanson said she wants Allina to reduce interest rates charged by its MedCredit Financial Services unit and make refunds to patients who were charged high rates in the past. She is also pursuing civil penalties of up to $25,000 per violation.
Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley has launched an investigation into whether the state's largest health insurance company and its largest healthcare provider may have illegally colluded to increase the price of health insurance statewide over the last nine years. Caokley sent formal demands for information to Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Massachusetts and Partners HealthCare, calling for a detailed account of their contract negotiations in recent years. Since 2000, Blue Cross has boosted the rate it pays for medical care by Partners doctors and hospitals by 75%, dramatically more than the increases given to most other Massachusetts hospitals. Blue Cross now pays $2 billion a year to Partners.