Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Boeing, Starbucks Demand And Get Better Health Care For Workers
Los Angeles Times: Unequal Treatment: Where Employers Use Quality Control To Shape Healthcare
Forty miles north of Seattle, in the largest building in the world, Boeing assembles its biggest commercial airliners. Thousands of workers on a 98-acre factory floor piece together hulking wings and fuselage pieces, miles of electrical wiring and millions of rivets on a production line so precisely choreographed that Boeing can roll out a new jet every other day. The largest plane built here, the 747, has some 6 million parts. With similar attention to detail, Boeing has helped shape medical care in and around Seattle, one of the healthiest regions of the country. ... Boeing and other major employers here, including Starbucks and Costco, have aggressively pushed local hospitals and doctors to meet the kinds of rigorous standards they use to build airplanes or brew coffee. (Levey, 12/15)
Marketplace: Taking The Pulse Of SHOP Exchanges
[Mike] Brey owns four Hobby Works toy stores in Maryland and Virginia, and he’s got about 50 full and part-time workers. ... There’s no time to sleep around the holidays if you own a toy store, and no time to look over health insurance plans — one of his least favorite chores. ... Still, Brey does provide insurance for his employees. ... [Brey has] been noodling around on Maryland’s SHOP website, which was set up under the Affordable Care Act to connect small businesses with health insurers. ... Brey says he used to have only a couple of plans to choose from. But on the SHOP exchange, “You have CareFirst offering, Coventry, Evergreen, Kaiser, United.” But here’s the thing: Brey’s just browsing, not buying. And he’s not alone. “It’s been, admittedly, a little slow getting out of the starting gate,” says Sabrina Corlette, a senior research fellow at Georgetown University’s Center on Health Insurance Reforms. (Marshall-Genzer, 12/16)
St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Small Businesses Cope With Health Insurance Premium Hikes
Last year, the administration decided to give businesses more time to stay on their current “grandfathered” coverage before moving to plans that comply with the Affordable Care Act. But the relief of being able to keep the same plan was short-lived for some small business owners. Kurt Barks, the CEO of Complete Auto Body, found that the premiums for his company plan that covers about 40 workers would rise about 38 percent, even though it’s the same coverage he has had for the last few years. (Shapiro, 12/16)
In other insurance news, WellCare names a new CEO -
The Wall Street Journal: WellCare Names Operating Chief Burdick As CEO
WellCare Health Plans Inc. has appointed Chief Operating Officer Kenneth A. Burdick as its new chief executive, a year after firing Alec Cunningham over differing perspectives. Mr. Burdick, who was 55 years old as of April’s proxy filing, replaces Chairman David J. Gallitano, who has served as interim CEO since November 2013. ...Tampa, Florida-based WellCare focuses on government-backed health-care programs, expanding its business with several acquisitions of Medicaid-focused plans in recent years. Drug costs have weighed on health insurers’ results, in general, particularly with expensive hepatitis C treatments hitting the market. (Chen, 12/15)
