Several large U.S. health insurance companies, including Aetna, WellPoint and UnitedHealth Group, currently offer mobile apps that help members find network providers and perform other simple functions. On the surface, these apps strengthen connections with members and providers. However, the mobile health revolution holds deeper implications for the insurance industry, which plans to enhance future mobile offerings to more directly impact patient health, according to the American Medical Association.
Starting Sept. 23, group health insurance policies in America must provide consumers and employers with a simple, easy-to-understand summary of benefits and costs. The new rules, announced Thursday, aim to eliminate confusing and technical language in policies "the size of a small phone book," said Marilyn Tavenner, acting administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid, in announcing the changes Thursday.
U.S. insurer UnitedHealth Group Inc will revise the way it pays doctors and hospitals, a move which it expects will bring down expenses, a Wall Street Journal report said, citing documents sent by the company to employer clients.
Gov. Rick Scott's controversial plan to overhaul the way Florida hospitals are compensated to treat the state's poorest and sickest residents—which could have cost the facilities some $1.7 billion next year—has failed to win backing from state lawmakers. But hospitals can still expect significant state cuts for their Medicaid care in the new budget year, with the House backing a plan to slash rates by 7 percent and the Senate unveiling a measure on Wednesday that could result in a 10 percent reduction.
Despite wide institutional acceptance of a medical professionalism charter that endorses openness and honesty in physicians' interactions with patients, not all doctors comply, according to a survey whose results are published in the February 2012 issue of Health Affairs, released Wednesday. Although about two-thirds of doctors responding to the survey did agree that they should disclose serious medical errors to patients, about one-third did not completely agree that they should.
The collapse of a deal to buy an ailing Jersey City hospital could renew merger talks in Hudson County, NJ, where a state-authorized report recommended that three hospitals consolidate services to save money. Christ Hospital filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection this week, after a private company, Prime Healthcare, withdrew its offer to purchase the money-losing hospital. The failed bid could lead Christ and two other hospitals—Bayonne Medical Center and Jersey City Medical Center—to combine services as recommended in the market study.