Archive for the ‘Health Insurance / Medical Insurance’ Category
Friday, November 21st, 2008
"I strongly disagree with your interpretation" of a Medicaid regulation announced last week that "clarifies" services covered under the program's outpatient hospital benefit, HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt writes in a New York Times letter to the editor dated Nov. 14, responding to a Nov. 12 Times editorial (Leavitt, New York ...
Posted in Health Insurance / Medical Insurance | No Comments »
Friday, November 21st, 2008
America's Health Insurance Plans and the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association in separate announcements> Affordable Health InsuranceThe insurers said that unless a coverage requirement is adopted, people will wait until they become sick to purchase insurance. Alissa Fox, a BCBS vice president, said, "Insurance works best when everyone is in ...
Posted in Health Insurance / Medical Insurance | No Comments »
Friday, November 21st, 2008
Senate Finance Committee Chair Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and ranking member Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa)> Affordable Health InsuranceIn a news release, Baucus and Grassley said that the bill "would re-focus the Medicare program on quality care, which will result in improved patient care and could lower costs throughout the entire health care ...
Posted in Health Insurance / Medical Insurance | No Comments »
Friday, November 21st, 2008
There are four ways to pay for health care. They are out-of-pocket payments, individual private health insurance coverage, employment-based group private health insurance and government financing.Paying For Health Care With Out-of-Pocket PaymentRead about: Affordable Health InsuranceOut of pocket payment is the standard method of payment for almost any good ...
Posted in Health Insurance / Medical Insurance | No Comments »
Friday, November 21st, 2008
The Oregon Health Fund Board> Oregon Health InsuranceThe plan also would regulate hospital prices and insurance company administrative costs and would increase taxes on alcohol and cigarettes to fund mental health services and public education programs about chronic disease prevention. State and local governments and eventually private insurers would consolidate ...
Posted in Health Insurance / Medical Insurance | No Comments »
Friday, November 21st, 2008
"Do Reimbursement Delays Discourage Medicaid Participation By Physicians?" Health Affairs: The study, released by the Center for Studying Health System Change, examines how variation in average reimbursement times across states affects physicians' willingness to accept Medicaid beneficiaries. The study finds that payment delays can offset the effects of higher Medicaid ...
Posted in Health Insurance / Medical Insurance | No Comments »
Thursday, November 13th, 2008
Senate Finance Committee Chair Max Baucus (D-Mont.)> Affordable Health InsuranceThe 104-page plan, titled "Call to Action, Health Reform 2009," would aim to have every U.S. resident covered within 10 years (Connolly, Washington Post, 11/12). According to the report, "We all must realize that the costs of inaction, both in human ...
Posted in Health Insurance / Medical Insurance | No Comments »
Thursday, November 13th, 2008
WellPoint> Affordable Health InsuranceWellPoint spokesperson Kristin Binns said patients who seek legal recourse regarding the outcome of a surgical procedure are "entitled to all rights and remedies available under applicable law." Binns did not indicate which country's laws are applicable, the Star reports.According to the Star, WellPoint joins a "limited ...
Posted in Health Insurance / Medical Insurance | No Comments »
Thursday, November 13th, 2008
A recent Wall Street Journal opinion piece that claimed Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell's (D) "Cover All Pennsylvanians" plan would increase health care costs and drive physicians out of the state is "flat out wrong," Pennsylvania Secretary of Policy and Planning Donna Cooper writes in a Journal letter to the editor. ...
Posted in Health Insurance / Medical Insurance | No Comments »
Thursday, November 13th, 2008
The "Bush administration has callously decided to reduce Medicaid payments to hospitals for their outpatient services," and the "impact> Affordable Health InsuranceHowever, "hospital leaders and state Medicaid officials have a much darker view of the consequences" of the clarification, which they maintain might "force safety-net hospitals with huge Medicaid burdens ...
Posted in Health Insurance / Medical Insurance | No Comments »
Thursday, November 13th, 2008
CMS> Affordable Health InsuranceHowever, because the regulations were just taking effect, some plans increased commissions in order to lock them in for the next five years. House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Health Chair Pete Stark (D-Calif.) in a letter to CMS wrote that insurers were "gaming" the new regulations ...
Posted in Health Insurance / Medical Insurance | No Comments »
Thursday, November 13th, 2008
House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee Chair Pete Stark (D-Calif.)> Affordable Health InsuranceOther "deferred maintenance issues" discussed by Stark include establishing a program to spur adoption of health information technology, utilizing comparative-effectiveness research and making changes to the Medicare prescription drug benefit. Stark also said he would aim to reduce ...
Posted in Health Insurance / Medical Insurance | No Comments »
Thursday, November 13th, 2008
Affordable health insurance is more accessible for men than for women.As women we are still at a disadvantage in job compensation and now it appears we also get gouged> Affordable Health InsuranceHowever, even if a woman does not have children or maternity care is not covered by their insurance policy, ...
Posted in Health Insurance / Medical Insurance | No Comments »
Tuesday, November 11th, 2008
The Philadelphia Inquirer> Affordable Health InsuranceThe Inquirer reports on his months long ordeal to fix a broken arm, which was complicated because he lacked health insurance (Vitez, Philadelphia Inquirer, 11/10).Reprinted with permission from kaisernetwork.org. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, and sign up ...
Posted in Health Insurance / Medical Insurance | No Comments »
Tuesday, November 11th, 2008
The New York Times> Affordable Health InsuranceThe system "creates a burden" that could potentially lead to "neglectful and unethical if not illegal behavior by hospitals," the Times reports. Stephen Larson, a migrant health expert and physician at the University of Pennsylvania Hospital, said, "The opportunity to turn your back is ...
Posted in Health Insurance / Medical Insurance | No Comments »
