Latest News + Info
The latest information relating to the health insurance industry.
Exchange enrollees sicker than average
Benefits Pro reports: "Those who enrolled in health coverage through the exchanges aren’t as healthy as some would like, according to new data. Analysis from Express Scripts shows that, based on their medication usage, PPACA enrollees are sicker than patients off the...
Obamacare’s Employer Mandate Is Toast, And Democrats Are OK With That
Yahoo Finance reports: "President Obama this week cheered the milestone 7 millionth person to sign up for the Affordable Care Act (ACA), but a growing opinion is spreading among Democrats that the law's employer mandate should go. Former White House press secretary...
Why Employers Will Stop Offering Health Insurance
The New York Times reports: "Here’s a prediction: By 2025, “fewer than 20 percent of workers in the private sector will receive traditional employer-sponsored health insurance.” The source of this claim? Dr. Ezekiel J. Emanuel, in his just-published book, “Reinventing...
Health Marketplace Sticker Shock Spreading
Insurance News Net reports: "Last-minute shoppers to the health insurance marketplace plans might do well to heed the advice of Butler County physician Mark Musmanno: Know what you're signing up for. Since the Affordable Care Act health exchanges went live Jan. 1, Dr....
With health law, workers ponder the I-Quit option
The Star Tribune reports: "For uninsured people, the nation's new health care law may offer an escape from worry about unexpected, astronomical medical bills. But for Stephanie Payne of St. Louis, who already had good insurance, the law could offer another kind of...
HHS: Health Care Premiums Likely To Go Up In 2015
Insurance News Net reports: "Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius says health insurance premiums are likely to increase in 2015. Sebelius's comments came Wednesday during a hearing of the House Committee on Ways and Means about the White House's 2015...
Employer health plans fading fast
Benefitspro reports: "Only a quarter of employers are certain they will still be offering company-sponsored health insurance a decade from now. That’s down from 38 percent in 2010 and 73 percent in 2007, according to a survey by Towers Watson and the National Business...
Support For Employer-Provided Health Plans Starts To Erode
Insurance News Net reports: "The rumblings of employees dissatisfied with the value of employer-sponsored health benefits are getting louder. But are the grumblings loud enough for employees to put their money where their mouths are? Are employees willing to walk out...
Blue Cross parent expecting losses in 2014 due to Obamacare
Healthcare Daily reports: "Annual net income for the parent company of Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Illinois fell well below the $1 billion mark for the first time since 2009, in part because the insurance giant is setting aside money to offset expected losses from...
Premiums see big jump in 2014
Benefits Pro reports: "How much are consumers actually paying for insurance now that Obamacare is here? That’s what private exchange operator eHealth wanted to find out. And with its new research, it found unless you have subsidies, health insurance on the individual...