UAW Seeks To Expand Successful Retiree Health Program To Serve Current Workers
Officials of the autoworkers union want to use the model of the retiree program they started eight years ago to improve the health coverage for employees at the three big auto companies. Also in the news are two studies about health insurance.
The Detroit Free Press:
How UAW's Risky Health Care Experiment Became A Success
A grand experiment that began eight years ago for the UAW to take over management of retiree health care for the Detroit Three is now viewed as a major success. Retirees, analysts and executives involved in the contract of 2007 that created the UAW Retiree Medical Benefits Trust say it's working even better than originally expected. ... UAW President Dennis Williams wants to use the Trust, also called a VEBA, as a model for a new benefits pool that would oversee healthcare for the 141,000 hourly workers at General Motors, Ford and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, and maybe even the automaker's salaried workforce. (Snavely, 9/8)
The Cleveland Plain Dealer:
Study: Ohio's Health Insurance Industry Is Shrinking; Prices Bound To Rise
If you think health insurance in Ohio is too expensive, grab your wallets. A new study released Tuesday finds that the state's health insurance industry experienced one of the nation's biggest drops in competition between 2010 and 2013. Ohio ranked 10th nationally in overall loss of competition, according to the study by the American Medical Association, which warned that premiums could rise sharply in communities across Ohio and the U.S. due to consolidation by insurers. (Ross, 9/8)
The Washington Post's Wonkblog:
What We Know About How Health Insurance Affects Health
A study published Tuesday in Health Affairs reports new evidence of health insurance's salutary effects on chronic disease, quantifying those effects down to changes in blood sugar control, blood pressure and a slight drop in cholesterol. Expanding coverage to half the number of non-elderly uninsured people, the authors estimate, will mean 1.5 million additional people will be diagnosed with chronic diseases and 659,000 will gain control of their illness. The analysis adds to a growing, if somewhat uneven, body of evidence probing health insurance's effects on health. (Johnson, 9/8)
In other marketplace news, concerns are raised about the costs of new drugs to fight cholesterol.
Reuters:
Independent Group Finds New Cholesterol Drugs Far Too Costly
An independent non-profit organization that evaluates clinical and cost effectiveness of new medicines said announced prices for a just-approved class of potent cholesterol lowering drugs were far too high, according to a draft report released on Tuesday. The Boston-based Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER) said its analyses indicated "that the price that best represents the overall benefits" the drugs may provide patients would be between $3,615 and $4,811 a year, a 67 percent discount off the list prices. (Berkrot, 9/8)
And an industry merger -
The New York Times' DealBook:
Concordia Healthcare To Acquire Drug Maker Amdipharm Mercury
The Concordia Healthcare Corporation of Canada said on Tuesday that it had agreed to acquire the drug maker Amdipharm Mercury from the European private equity firm Cinven in a deal that valued the company at about $3.5 billion, including debt. The deal is expected to expand Concordia’s geographic footprint to more than 100 countries and give it access to 190 complementary and niche pharmaceutical products, Concordia said. (Bray, 9/8)
