Posts Tagged - ‘health insurance companies’

« Older Entries
Post border

In The Meantime: Sebelius Tries To Get Health Insurance Companies’ Cooperation

Friday, July 9th, 2010

Image: whoohoo120 under CC 3.0

The intention of the healthcare reform law is to increase access to insurance. It largely attempts to do so via stringent regulations. However, most of those regulations will not become effective until 2014.

The gap is a serious issue. Between now and then, health insurers will still be able to deny coverage to people with pre-existing conditions. Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius is asking for their cooperation to help remedy this dilemma.

Doing so will probably be quite difficult, since the Obama administration has taken a largely adversarial role against providers of health insurance plans in the past. According to Sebelius, their goal is to stabilize the private sector by promoting the elements that could increase their sales (e.g. tax credits for small businesses).

Tags: , , , , , ,
Posted in Reform & Regulation | No Comments »

Post border
Post border

Health Insurance Company Harvard Pilgrim Agrees To Lower Rates

Monday, July 5th, 2010

Image: Guerilla Billboards

Regulators have been facing off with health insurance companies over proposed premium increases that the former consider excessive, and the latter think are necessary to continue doing business.

Apparently, compromise is possible. Harvard Pilgrim Health Care agreed to a settlement with the state of Massachusetts that limits their individual and small group health insurance rate increases. The decrease is insignificant: their initial requests ranged from 8% to 12%, while the new deal has increases of 7% to 11%.

Since earlier caps on premiums set by the state were rejected on appeal, the insurer could’ve kept fighting. However, they chose to move on instead–although they will still lose money under the agreement. Thankfully for consumers, Harvard Pilgrim (the second-largest insurance provider in the state) also agreed not to retroactively bill policyholders since April for the higher rates.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in News | No Comments »

Post border
Post border

Virginia Health Insurance Company Abandons Patients

Wednesday, June 30th, 2010

Individuals in one state now have one less option for health care. UniCare has decided to pull out of the Virginia health insurance market, due to competitive pressure from larger insurers.

Some of their nearly 3,000 patients are eligible to switch to Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, but others don’t live in Anthem’s coverage area. They will need to search for new health insurance coverage by January 1st, when UniCare’s plans will expire.

Tags: , , , , , ,
Posted in News | No Comments »

Post border
Post border

Obama Warns Insurers Against Circumventing Healthcare Reform

Tuesday, June 22nd, 2010

Image: cliff1066™ under CC 3.0

Health insurance companies are preparing for the impact reform will have on them. Some of this preparation is gaining negative attention from President Obama–namely, increasing their rates severely before healthcare reform takes effect and significantly limits their ability to do so. Since the law will keep them from increasing rates solely for profit-maximizing purposes, they ideally want to have the highest floor before it becomes effective.

Today, he is holding a meeting at the White House to drive this point home further. Although the federal government doesn’t gain direct control over regulating health insurance plans, it gains more oversight responsibility. Their worst-case scenario is that insurers increase their rates before provisions begin taking effect this summer, while blaming the legislation for forcing them to make those moves.

The president of industry lobbying group America’s Health Insurance Plans, as well as executives from 13 health insurers and several state insurance commissioners, will attend the meeting. It is unclear whether it will have any actual impact on their actions. Some believe the summit is more of a political move, intended to protect Democrats against blowback in the midterm elections.

Tags: , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Reform & Regulation | No Comments »

Post border
Post border

New York Cuts Health Insurance Funding

Tuesday, June 8th, 2010

Image: Vikram Vetrivel under CC 3.0

Economic programs have forced states to make painful cuts in their programs. Now, it’s New York’s turn. Governor David Paterson is one step closer to signing an emergency spending bill that severely cuts health care and health insurance spending.

By spending less on hospitals and other health-related ventures, the state also gives up some matching federal subsidies. The $775 million in cuts includes the elimination of a prescription drug program and millions in reduced funding for health care for the poor.

On a positive note for consumers, the bill also reinstates prior approval of insurers’ rate increases. That will make private coverage more affordable, saving the state $70 million that would be otherwise spent providing government-sponsored coverage for those people. New York health insurance rates are some of the highest in the nation.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in News | No Comments »

Post border
Post border

Can Health Insurance Companies and Obama Administration Work Together?

Friday, June 4th, 2010

Image: lumaxart under CC 3.0

Over the past year and a half, politicians have often vilified the health insurance industry in order to garner support for healthcare reform. Meanwhile, health insurers have hit back at the government.

Nevertheless, now that it’s law, both sides have to cooperate to implement it effectively. Health insurance plan providers want to continue profiting, so they want the most favorable regulations possible. They also want to be able to take advantage of the upcoming subsidies.

For their part, the Obama administration needs to work with insurers to ensure that the process goes smoothly; their political life depends on it.

Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in Reform & Regulation | No Comments »

Post border
Post border

Sebelius Urges Employers to Implement Group Health Insurance Earlier

Friday, May 28th, 2010

Image: US Mission Geneva under CC 3.0

The deadline for large group health insurance plans to expand coverage to the adult children of employees until the age of 26 is September 23rd. However, the actual date depends on when the new plan year begins, which can be as late as January 1st of next year for many companies.

Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius is encouraging employers to enact this element of healthcare reform earlier than required. Doing so will be especially helpful to recent college graduates, who would otherwise be uninsured.

Will businesses comply? On the one hand, the demographic in question is generally healthy, so total costs shouldn’t rise all that much. On the other hand, premiums may increase. One study found that 16% are planning to expand their health benefits to this group.

Tags: , , , , , ,
Posted in Group | No Comments »

Post border
Post border

Are Health Insurance Company Mergers Good Or Bad?

Thursday, April 29th, 2010

Image: TheTruthAbout… under CC 3.0

Corporate mergers are a fact of life. In recent years, more of them have occurred in the health insurance industry. The healthcare reform law may end up forcing more of them to merge or go out of business.

How do these mergers affect consumers? On the positive side, they allow firms to band together and negotiate lower rates from providers due to their combined policyholder base. However, they decrease the amount of competition and the choices of affordable health insurance available.

The latter is especially dangerous when the major health insurance plan providers in a state merge, leaving residents with few options. Antitrust law could be used to challenge the mergers, but it rarely has been. There are ups and downs, besides.

Tags: , , , , , ,
Posted in Issues and Opinion | No Comments »

Post border
Post border

Lobbyists Still Fight Over Health Insurance Reform

Monday, April 19th, 2010

Image: DonkeyHotey under CC 3.0

Most people believe that lobbyists for various interest groups have already had their say once legislation passes. You’d think so, but that’s not the case for affordable health insurance reform.

The main reason for the continued push for favorable enforcement is that the Department of Health and Human Services is currently formalizing regulations. Lobbyists are trying to influence the agency in order to get implementation that is more favorable to their side.

Health insurance companies, in particular, have a significant interest in how this plays out:

  • They want specific definitions of who is eligible to participate in the state health insurance exchanges. Obviously, they would appreciate eligibility to be as limited as possible.
  • In addition, insurers want clear information regarding the legal documents that must be given to consumers. They would probably prefer less paperwork, but HHS may require clearer wording.

Tags: , , , , , ,
Posted in Reform & Regulation | No Comments »

Post border
Post border

Are Health Insurance Companies Hypocrites?

Friday, April 16th, 2010

Image: Valerie Everett under CC 3.0

Most health insurance companies are ramping up their promotion of wellness campaigns. Their strategy involves reducing the cost of claims–and therefore the price of premiums–by improving the health of policyholders. Many of these programs involve weight loss and improvements in diet.

Strangely, it has been found that many insurers are major stockholders in fast food corporations! In total, they own about $2 billion worth of stock in McDonalds, Burger King, KFC, and Taco Bell; as well as other similar restaurants. These companies have been blamed for their role in America’s obesity epidemic. Insurers may also profit twice, because they have been able to charge higher rates to those who have overindulged in fast food and harmed their health–although healthcare reform will minimize that incentive, beginning in 2014.

Researchers at the Harvard Medical School believe that providers of individual, group, and family health insurance should use their clout as significant shareholders to push those chains to provide a wider selection of healthier products and offer smaller portion sizes.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Issues and Opinion | No Comments »

Post border
« Older Entries