Though in a recession, employers say they are putting money into corporate wellness programs they hope will lead to healthier workers and healthier profits. For many businesses, doing so will be a matter of survival as the cost of healthcare soars along with chronic health problems, corporate wellness experts say. Experts contend that improving workers' health can also reduce costs associated with absenteeism and workers' compensation.
Congressional lawmakers can look at Massachusetts and Tennessee for guidance as they craft a national plan to restrain costs and cover the nation's estimated 50 million uninsured. In Massachusetts, nearly every resident has health insurance, but doctors are turning away new patients, costs to the state are climbing, and thousands have paid tax penalties for being uninsured. In Tennessee, that state's much smaller program hasn't cramped the budget, but few people are buying the new insurance even though premiums are as cheap as a monthly cell phone bill.
Seattle Children's Hospital's proposed expansion plan would conflict with several Seattle policies while supporting other city goals, planners said Thursday. The new review came just over a month after city Hearing Examiner Sue Tanner ruled that the first of evaluation the plan's impacts was inadequate. Planners will follow up the new report with a recommendation to the City Council, which ultimately must balance the benefits against the negative impacts. Children's plan eventually would result in as many as 600 beds, up from 250 now, and 2.4 million square feet of building space, up from about 900,000.
A Minnesota researcher is testing ways to ease stress on those who take care of their parents with dementia. Minnesota researcher Joe Gaugler is directing a federally financed $1.2 million research project studying those 100 caregivers to see what techniques work best. Gaugler believes a combination of education, support groups, and counseling on demand will result in healthier caregivers.
Health Net has agreed to pay California hospitals at least $1.95 million for care delivered to patients whom the insurer later dropped. The settlement, pending a judge's approval, resolves a lawsuit filed by California hospitals to recover payments they say the company improperly withheld after canceling the coverage of hundreds of patients. Under that deal, Health Net will pay as much as $14 million to settle claims by 800 former policyholders whose coverage was dropped after they submitted substantial medical bills.
A judge ruled Thursday in mid-trial that Blue Shield of California had acted properly in canceling the health insurance policy of a former Cypress, CA, resident after he was seriously injured in a car accident. It's the first verdict stemming from the spate of rescissions that have enraged consumer activists and led to regulatory enforcement by the state. The judge made the ruling in response to a motion by Blue Shield that included an agreement it had reached with plaintiffs Steve Hailey and his wife, Cindy. The Haileys stipulated they had lied about his preexisting conditions to obtain coverage. Blue Shield declared the resolution a "complete vindication."
Pennsylvania's healthcare system is not meeting the needs of terminally ill children and their families, according to a new report released by the state's Department of Public Welfare. The report found that families, particularly in rural areas, do not have sufficient access to hospice care, nor do they have adequate financial or emotional support. Hospitals, insurance companies, and doctors fail to recognize the needs of dying children, which leads to a host of problems, including painful treatments to keep them alive. Advocates say this often robs the child and family of pleasant times near the end of life.
Health insurer Aetna, Inc., will offer free credit monitoring for a year to about 65,000 people after some e-mails were copied from the health insurer's job application Web site. The company said Social Security numbers of current and former employees and people who received job offers from the company were stored on the Web site, which was maintained by an outside vendor. Most of the information was from current and former employees. For people who received job offers, the site also stored phone numbers, addresses, and employment histories.
Connecticut has moved closer to requiring group health insurance policies to cover the cost of diagnosing and treating autism in young children. The state House of Representatives passed a bill, already approved unanimously by the state Senate, that would require coverage of behavioral therapy for children under 16, as well as certain prescription drugs and psychiatric and psychological services. Supporters of the legislation say it's unfair for families to pay hefty insurance premiums, yet be denied coverage for autism spectrum disorders.
President Barack Obama's plan to overhaul the nation's healthcare system could dodge one of the bullets that felled Clinton-era reforms by maintaining an active and independent role for private insurance companies, congressional budget analysts said yesterday. In a report, the Congressional Budget Office said a government mandate requiring people to buy health insurance would not necessarily be considered a new form of federal taxation so long as people had a variety of private plans from which to choose and a government entity was not in charge of collecting their insurance premiums.
