Latest News + Info
The latest information relating to the health insurance industry.
A Guide To Health Insurance Exchanges
Kaiser Health News reports: "It seems like a simple idea: create new marketplaces, called "exchanges," where consumers can comparison shop for health insurance, sort of like shopping online for a hotel room or airline ticket. But, like almost everything else connected...
Health Care Reform Inches Closer to Supreme Court
PBS Newshour reports: "The Thomas More Law Center formally asked the Supreme Court Tuesday to reverse an appeals court decision upholding the health care reform law. Marking the first appeal of its kind to reach the nation's highest court, the conservative legal group...
Health care use may temper premium hikes
Benefitpro reports: "INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Consumers may catch a little break when their health insurance policies renew. Lower-than-expected use of health care has helped push insurer earnings higher and that may temper how much they increase premiums. Analysts and...
Gov’t: Health tab to hit $4.6 trillion in 2020
Bradenton.com reports: "The nation's health care tab is on track to hit $4.6 trillion in 2020, accounting for about $1 of every $5 in the economy, government number crunchers estimate in a report released Thursday. How much is that? Including government and private...
Your family’s health care costs: $19,393
CNN Money reports: "Health care costs for a family of four rose again in 2011, with employees paying a much larger share of the rising expenses, according to a new industry report Wednesday. American families who are insured through their jobs average health care...
U.S. will pay for half of all health care costs by 2020
CNN Money reports: "The U.S. government will foot the bill for half of all health care costs in the United States by 2020, according to a government report released Thursday. That's up from 44% just two years ago, and reflects both the rising cost of health care and...
BlueCross BlueShield of Illinois launches new child only health plans
Illinois Health Agents reports: "Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois (BCBSIL) announced the launch of 2 new child-only health insurance policies: Blue PathwaySM and BlueChoice PathwaySM. These new products provide coverage for children ages 1 through 18, who do not...
Messing With Medicare
The New York Times reports: "At the time of writing, President Obama’s hoped-for “Grand Bargain” with Republicans is apparently dead. And I say good riddance. I’m no more eager than other rational people (a category that fails to include many Congressional...
Analysis Estimates Impact of Medigap Reforms on Medicare Spending and Out-of-Pocket Costs
Kaiser Family Foundation reports: "Wednesday, July 20, 2011 As part of several debt-reduction and Medicare-reform proposals, some policymakers propose to prohibit Medicare supplemental insurance policies (known as Medigap) from covering all of enrollee's out-of-pocket...
Delay Medicare eligibility: Coburn and Lieberman
The AP reports: "Two Senate rebels jumped into Congress' cut-the-deficit competition on Tuesday, proposing to raise the age of Medicare eligibility to 67 and increase monthly premiums for millions of current beneficiaries. "We can't save Medicare as we know it," said...