The National Association of Insurance Commissioners named ex-Democratic Senator Ben Nelson to be its chief executive officer as the regulators' group tackles U.S. President Barack Obama's health-care overhaul. Nelson's duties will include working with U.S. and international agencies as overseers increase their scrutiny on financial firms, the NAIC said today in a statement. A former industry executive, Nebraska governor and state regulator, he was one of the more conservative Democrats in the Senate.
President Obama used his inaugural address Monday to defend popular but expensive entitlement programs, including Medicare. Obama said it is imperative to reduce healthcare costs, but he made clear that he's not on board with Republican plans to dramatically cut Medicare and Medicaid. Entitlement programs "do not make us a nation of takers," Obama said, rejecting part of the principle underlying the push to cut entitlements, particularly Medicaid.
The Obama administration is re-branding the central component of its signature healthcare law. The Health and Human Services Department suddenly stopped referring to insurance "exchanges" this week, even as it heralded ongoing efforts to prod states into setting up their own. Instead, press materials and a website for the public referred to insurance "marketplaces" in each state. The change comes amid a determined push by conservative activists to block state-based exchanges in hopes of crippling the federal implementation effort. Dean Clancy, the director of healthcare policy at FreedomWorks, said HHS's decision to ditch the "exchanges" label shows that opponents of the healthcare law are succeeding.
Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer has built a political career in standing up to the federal government over everything from immigration to health care. So she surprised almost everyone when she announced last week that she not only plans to push for an expansion of the state's Medicaid program under the federal health care law—she plans to fund it by raising taxes.
The state Attorney General's Office is asking dozens of questions about the proposed sale of St. Mary's Hospital in Passaic to a California-based for-profit hospital company as part of the review required when charitable institutions are converted to for-profit status. State authorities want to know how Prime Healthcare Services, which operates 21 hospitals and wants to expand into the Northeast, came to bid on St. Mary's, and how the proposals submitted by Prime and other bidders were evaluated. "Why are the trustees willing to accept a commitment from [Prime Healthcare] to maintain the hospital as an acute-care facility for only five years?" asks one of the 50 questions.
A proposed settlement between ratepayers and Highmark, which would have set the stage for further litigation against UPMC, appeared to be in critical condition Friday as the plaintiffs motioned to cancel it, claiming they were misled. Attorneys for Royal Mile Co., Cole's Wexford Hotel and Pamela Lang—who in 2010 sued the region's biggest hospital system and biggest insurer, alleging price gouging—had been poised to settle with Highmark. The insurer had pledged $4.5 million to cover the plaintiffs' legal costs, a trove of documents they could use against UPMC, and two measures portrayed as spurs to competition. Those measures: Highmark would not give some medical providers higher reimbursements than others through 2014; and Highmark would guarantee to continue to offer its low-cost Community Blue product.