Insurance Industry’s Courting Of State Officials Raises Concerns
A Center for Public Integrity investigation finds strong ties between some state insurance commissioners and the industry they regulate. Other outlets report on insurance industry news, including updates on the proposed merger between Anthem and Cigna, a New Jersey case about Horizon Blue Cross and Blue Shield, high-deductible plans and military coverage for transgender services.
Center for Public Integrity/The Washington Post:
Drinks, Junkets And Jobs: How The Insurance Industry Courts State Commissioners
When the Arkansas insurance commissioner weighed the merits of a hospital’s billing complaint against United Healthcare, her interactions with one of the nation’s largest health insurers extended far beyond her department’s hearing room. During months of deliberations, Commissioner Julie Benafield Bowman met repeatedly with United Healthcare lawyers and lobbyists over lunch and drinks at venues such as the Country Club of Little Rock. ... Nearly two years later, ... she was working for United Healthcare, having joined at least three of her predecessors representing insurers in Arkansas. ... An investigation by the Center for Public Integrity found that half of the 109 state insurance commissioners who have left their posts in the past decade have gone on to work for the industry they used to regulate. (Mishak, 10/2)
Reuters:
Anthem Judge Considering Splitting Merger Trial Into Two Sections
The judge who will rule on whether the government may stop health insurer Anthem from buying competitor Cigna said Friday that she was considering splitting the trial into phases. Judge Amy Berman Jackson of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia said that she was mulling hearing separately about the effect of the merger on the national market in one phase and on local markets in a second phase with a potential decision after the first set of arguments. (Bartz, 9/30)
Modern Healthcare:
N.J. Supreme Court Declines To Hear Horizon Tiered Health Plan Challenge
The Supreme Court of New Jersey declined to review a case this week that alleges state regulators shouldn't have allowed Horizon Blue Cross and Blue Shield to relegate hospitals to a tiered network. The decision by the higher court deals a blow to the three hospitals part of the suit. (Castellucci, 9/30)
The Houston Chronicle:
A Shift In Coverage Has Even The Insured Skipping Medical Care
This year, for the first time, a majority threshold was crossed as 51 percent of American workers have a deductible of at least $1,000. That compares with just 10 percent a decade ago, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation's 2016 annual health benefits survey released in September. Not only has the number of plans with deductibles grown, so, too, has the amount patients must come up with before coverage kicks in. Today, the average deductible in individual plans that have one is $1,478. In 2006, according to Kaiser, it was $584. (Deam, 10/1)
The Associated Press:
Hope, Relief For Transgender Military Families In New Policy
Like many transgender teens, Jenn Brewer faced bullying when she came out. Some classmates called her "tranny," and a few teachers refused to address the 13-year-old by anything other than her male birth name, she said. But she and her family found that the biggest difficulty came from her father's employer: the U.S. military. Jenn's father is an Army staff sergeant at Virginia's Fort Belvoir, and his military health insurance refused to cover private counseling to support the changes his daughter was embracing. (Finley, 10/2)
