For years, Kaiser Permanente has won accolades for delivering high-quality care at an affordable price. The Oakland company's unique HMO model kept a lid on costs, and big employers flocked to enroll their workers to the point that Kaiser has become the largest health plan in California, grabbing more than 40% of the market. Now, some of Kaiser's biggest customers are complaining that the company is no longer a bargain and, even worse, standing in the way of controlling healthcare costs. Critics say the company is so entrenched in the workplace that it refuses to negotiate rates or to fully explain why its premiums keep rising.
When the state-based insurance exchanges open next year under Obamacare, many Americans should finally have access to affordable insurance. But millions of others will most likely be left out in the cold and remain uninsured. These folks -- mainly low-income adults in the 21 states that aren't expanding Medicaid -- will not be eligible for either the long-standing government health insurance program for the poor, or for premium subsidies in the new exchanges. Some 4.9 million people will not be covered in 2016 if these states don't expand, according to the Urban Institute. Another 1.5 million uninsured are in six states that are considering expansion, but have yet to approve it.
CHICAGO -- President Barack Obama's administration is courting female bloggers to play a role in a massive campaign aimed at informing the public about the benefits of the new health care law. Over breakfast at a blogging conference Thursday in Chicago, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius asked a banquet hall full of bloggers ? most of them women ? to help spread the word about new health insurance opportunities that begin this fall under the Affordable Care Act. Many uninsured Americans know little about how the law will affect them, Sebelius said, and want information from people they trust.
CHICAGO — It will make you stronger. It will give you peace of mind and make you feel like a winner. Health insurance is what the country is talking about, so don't be left out. Sound like a sales pitch? Get ready for more. As President Obama's health care law moves from theory to reality in coming months, its success may hinge on whether the best minds in advertising can reach one of the hardest-to-find parts of the population: people without health coverage. The campaign won't come cheap: The total amount to be spent nationally on publicity, marketing and advertising will be at least $684 million, according to data The Associated Press compiled from federal and state sources.
A new approach to health care under the federal health reform law that rewards hospitals financially for keeping patients healthy at less cost is beginning to yield results in Maine. Under the model, outlined in the Affordable Care Act, health systems throughout the U.S. are forming alliances of doctors and hospitals called "accountable care organizations." ACOs are a cornerstone of the federal law that many hope will slow the ever-rising health care costs eating up more and more of Americans' paychecks. The experimental approach rewards health providers with financial incentives for keeping patients healthy and happy rather than steering them toward more visits and procedures.
As the nation prepares to roll out the next phase of Obamacare, the second biggest medical insurer said Wednesday that it expects to lose members in health insurance plans sponsored by smaller employers. At the same time, WellPoint expects membership gains in self-insured employer plans and in the kind of individual plans that will be sold in subsidized exchanges starting Oct. 1. "I would not call it an academic assumption at this point," WellPoint chief financial officer Wayne DeVeydt said on a conference call with stock analysts. "We continue to see small group attrition accelerate even more as we get to the back half of the second quarter. And we expect that to continue."