Latest News + Info
The latest information relating to the health insurance industry.
U.S. health plans to keep some reforms, however court rules
Reuters reports: "Three major U.S. health insurers that provide coverage to millions of Americans said they would keep some protections included in President Barack Obama's healthcare overhaul regardless of how the Supreme Court rules on the law. The Supreme Court is...
Undoing health law could have messy ripple effects
The AP reports: "It sounds like a silver lining. Even if the Supreme Court overturns President Barack Obama's health care law, employers can keep offering popular coverage for the young adult children of their workers. But here's the catch: The parents' taxes would go...
Obama to veto FSA, HSA legislation
WASHINGTON—President Barack Obama will veto legislation that would ease a 28-year-old Internal Revenue Service rule that requires forfeiture of unused flexible spending account balances and eliminates restrictions on using FSAs and health savings accounts to pay for...
Historically Low Growth In Healthcare SpendingExpected in 2013
Insurance News Net reports: Projects PwC Health Research Institute NEW YORK, May 31, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --Healthcare spending in the United States is expected to grow at a historically low rate of 7.5 percent next year, according to the annual Behind the Numbers report...
Senate Republicans Signal Big Shift On ‘Obamacare’
TPM reports: "Senate Republicans are echoing the House GOP’s shift in favor of some of the more popular “Obamacare” provisions, a sign that the party is uniting behind the strategy ahead of the election. With a Supreme Court decision looming next month, House...
The Medicaid money trail?
Crains reports: "Doctors are shunning Medicaid patients because of low fees, a trend that is likely to become a crisis in less than two years, when the ranks of patients are expected to swell. Budget talks in Springfield last week to reduce a $2.7 billion annual...
Illinois Legislature passes $1.6 billion in Medicaid cuts
The Chicago Tribune reports: "Poor and elderly would see coverage, discounts, care significantly curtailed under plan May 25, 2012|By Ray Long and Alissa Groeninger, Chicago Tribune reporters SPRINGFIELD — Hundreds of thousands of poor Illinoisans would lose health...
IRS announces 2013 HSA limits
Benefits Pro reports: "The IRS has announced adjustments that affect health savings accounts in 2013. The HSA contribution limits and high deductible health plan out-of-pocket maximums are up slightly over 2012. For the first time in three years, the HDHP minimum...
Medicaid proposal makes nearly $1.4 billion in cuts
Chicago Sun Times reports: "Illinois moved closer to drastic Medicaid cuts Monday with proposed legislation that could excise nearly $1.4 billion from the state’s program by shrinking benefits, such as regular adult dental care, and cutting payments to most hospitals...
Implementing Health Reform: State-Based, Partnership, And Federally Facilitated Exchanges
Health Affairs Blog reports: "On May 16, 2012, the Department of Health and Human Services moved three steps closer to the implementation of the Affordable Care Act’s health insurance exchanges, which will happen on January 1, 2014. First, HHS announced the award of...