New Survey: Consumers Who Buy Their Own Health Insurance Report Big Rate Increase Requests
When the big California health insurer Wellpoint sought rate increases up to 39 percent this year, some wondered if they were unusual. But in a new national survey consumers who buy their own policies report the most recent rate requests averaged 20 percent.
Heart Problem Underscores Need to Test Competing Treatments
More than 2.2 million Americans have atrial fibrillation, the most common heart arrhythmia, but treatment choices vary widely
A Look At Comparative Effectiveness Research
Under the new health law, a nonprofit entity called the Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute will be established to carry out a comparative effectiveness research agenda, starting in 2012. The law bars the government from using findings as the sole basis for decisions about what Medicare will cover.
Insurance Industry Faces Tough Scrutiny From Federal Watchdogs
A foursome of longtime industry watchdogs are helping steer the federal government’s effort to overhaul the private insurance market. Karen Pollitz, Steve Larsen, Jay Angoff and Richard Popper have top spots in the newly minted Office of Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight.
Insurance Regulators Wrestle With Definition Of ‘Unreasonable’ Rate Increases
State and federal officials are wrestling with how to define “unreasonable” premium increases, a thorny issue Congress has handed regulators.
Lobbyists Have Long Wish List For New Health Rules
Now that the health care bill is law, an array of groups — representing doctors, insurers, small businesses and others — have switched to their post-passage game plans. Among their top goals: Helping shape the all-important regulations being written by the Obama administration.
Groups Vie For A Piece Of Health Law’s $15 Billion Prevention Fund
Public health officials and a host of prevention and wellness groups have sharply different ideas about how to spend a big pot of new federal prevention money
Groups Vie for $15 Billion In Prevention Money
Public health officials and a host of prevention and wellness groups have sharply different ideas about how to spend a big pot of new federal prevention money
Hospitals Criticized For Keeping Quiet On Charity Care
Too many nonprofit hospitals fail to adequately publicize their charity-care programs, two advocacy groups say in a survey report released today.
Changes Coming To Insurance Plans
Consumers soon will see plans without lifetime coverage limits or the ability to drop enrollees retroactively, plus there will be added benefits for children and reviews of rate increases.
The Immediate Effects Of The Health Reform Bill
A number of provisions in the health bill would take effect within a few months. The question for Democrats is whether promoting the early changes will help them in November.
Nine Major Changes In The Democrats’ New Health Reform Bill
In their push to pass a sweeping health care overhaul this weekend, House Democrats unveiled a package of legislative fixes to lure undecided or opposed members of their party to the “yes” category.
Biggest Medicare Drug Plans Raise Prices 10 Percent On Average
A spike in prices charged by the largest Medicare drug plans raises a question about the impact regulated health insurance marketplaces would have on prices.
Carrot-And-Stick Health Plans Aim To Cut Costs
Workers at a Portland, Ore., steel mill soon will be able to pick a new type of health insurance: one with financial rewards to use proven treatments and disincentives to use less-effective surgeries and diagnostic tests.
State Regulators Criticize Obama Plan To Create Federal Authority Over Health Insurance Rates
Three veteran state insurance commissioners said they’d welcome federal advisory help, but draw the line at giving the government authority over rates, a power they say states should retain exclusively.
Obama’s Budget Increases Funding for Medical Research That Compares Treatment Options
The president has long championed comparative effectiveness research, saying it would provide crucial information to determine which regimen or drug should be used. But critics fear that could lead to an effort to cut costs and restrict patients’ choices.
Many Still Hope For Insurance Reform
Some lawmakers are considering a scaled-back health bill in place of the comprehensive legislation now stalled in Congress. But there’s debate about whether popular insurance reforms, such as requiring insurers to accept applicants with health problems, can be successful without an unpopular individual insurance mandate.
Why Public Support For Health Care Faltered
The Democrats’ health overhaul legislation is in trouble for many reasons, including key policy decisions that led many Americans to wonder whether they would wind up worse off.
The House, Senate and You: A New Guide to Health Reform
Now that the Senate has passed a hotly debated health care bill, Congress is headed to the next step: House-Senate negotiations in January to try to hammer out a final version. Here’s where things stand and how you might be affected.
Democrats Move To Regulate How Insurers’ Spend Customers’ Money
Both the House and Senate health overhaul bills would force insurers to spend the vast majority of premium revenue on medical care for their customers, reducing the amount available for profits, executive salaries, sales and administration.
