General Motors Corp. is cracking down on workers who are collecting medical benefits for which they aren't eligible as it tries to trim its nearly $5 billion-a-year healthcare tab. The auto maker is giving its 67,000 hourly workers until Aug. 20 to voluntarily remove dependents who shouldn't be covered from their health policies, and after that employees must prove that covered family members are eligible. If GM paid for health expenses it shouldn't have, workers may be forced to reimburse the company, said GM representatives.
In a country where insurance is out of reach for many, some couples are marrying, or even to divorcing, at least partly so one spouse can obtain or maintain health coverage. There is no way to know exactly how often it happens, but lawyers and patient advocacy groups say they see cases regularly. In a poll conducted this year by the Kaiser Family Foundation, 7% of adults said someone in their household had married in the past year to gain access to insurance. The foundation says the number can be seen as an intriguing indicator that some Americans "are making major life decisions on the basis of healthcare concerns."
Two expos-Your Medical Travel and Health-are set for late October and early November in Dallas and Austin. Put on by Transmarx LLC of Richmond, VA, the events will allow attendees to talk with medical travel facilitators and providers, and will services such as offer free health screenings.
A Canadian human rights lawyer is calling for the International Congress of the Transplantation Society in Sydney, Australia to ban transplant tourism, saying that new evidence shows forced organ removal from Chinese practitioners and prisoners.
A survey by McKinsey Global that looks at business use of Web 2.0 technologies, has found that companies have adopted more Web 2.0 tools this year than in 2007. While some reported satisfaction with how their companies utilize these tools, others are hitting barriers in adopting them.
Medical vacations, which allow a corporation's health insurance plan members to seek surgeries such as knee replacements and hip replacements in foreign countries, are fast becoming a popular option for patients worldwide. And U.S. companies are starting to take note.