Posts Tagged - ‘massachusetts health insurance’

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How Could Hospitals Reduce Health Insurance Rates?

Wednesday, April 14th, 2010

Image: tahitianlime under CC 3.0

Health insurance companies are often blamed for increasing premiums. In turn, they point the finger at hospitals. According to them, hospitals demand ever-increasing reimbursement rates, which must be passed onto policy holders.

A group of teaching hospitals in Massachusetts, Partners HealthCare, is trying to lessen their impact on costs. They are putting $40 million towards a proposal intended to reduce the cost of a small group health insurance plan for small businesses. Insurers will receive the money, and be required to use it to decrease premiums.

State Senate President Therese Murray also plans to propose a change to the current fee-for-service system that encourages uncoordinated care, where hospitals get paid on a per-procedure basis.

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Health Insurance Rate Increases Blocked Temporarily

Tuesday, April 13th, 2010

Image: walknboston under CC 3.0

Yesterday, a judge in Massachusetts denied health insurance companies’ requests for rate increases. They were seeking to increase small business and individual health insurance rates anywhere from 8% to 32%.

The judge blocked a preliminary injunction that would’ve blocked the state Insurance Department’s refusal of the rate increases. The insurers can–and will–appeal, but for now they must continue offering health insurance plans at last year’s rates.

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Health Insurance Companies Justify Rate Increases

Monday, April 12th, 2010

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Today, a judge will decide if Massachusetts health insurance companies’ proposed rate increases can go forward. The state’s insurance commissioner refused to allow over 200 premium increases, stating that they were unreasonable in a recession.

Insurers are seeking a preliminary injunction that would allow them to begin charging the higher rates, which are 8% to 32% higher than last year’s. They believe that being forced to stick with the lower rates would put them out of business.

The state’s attorney general, however, states that the insurers haven’t exhausted the entire appeals process–they shouldn’t have assumed that the commissioner would automatically approve their proposals. Until the state acts, they should be prepared to sell affordable health insurance at the previous rates.

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Mass. Insurers Agree To Pause Rate Increases

Friday, April 9th, 2010

When deciding on the monthly rates of a health insurance plan, insurers consider several factors. Maximizing revenue is one of the goals, as is minimizing costs. Another concern is whether their proposed rate increases will pass muster with state–and now federal–regulators.

In Massachusetts, Governor Deval Patrick recently denied a series of monthly rate increases that sometimes reached 32%, far beyond the rate of inflation. Rather than propose less severe increases, many health insurance companies have stopped selling coverage after April 1st.

Two major providers, Blue Cross Blue Shield and Tufts Health Plan, have taken a different tactic: they have agreed to resume writing new policies for individuals and small businesses at last year’s rates, at least temporarily. Meanwhile, all major insurers are working to meet the deadline for more affordable health insurance premium increases. Granted, it is unknown what consequences they will face if they fail to submit the changed proposals by the end of this week.

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Should Romney Run Health Insurance Reform?

Friday, April 9th, 2010

Image: Andrew Feinberg under CC 3.0

President Obama has to hire someone to be in charge of the new affordable health insurance reform office in the government. Some have suggested a somewhat surprising choice: Republican Mitt Romney.

Why may he be suited to the position?

  • Romney has experience in both private and public employment, which makes him appropriate for a job that involves the cooperation of both the government and health insurance plan providers.
  • As governor of Massachusetts, he spearheaded healthcare reform in the state. There are many similarities between the legislation he supported and the final bill eventually passed by the Senate: they both involve attempts at cost controls, tax credit subsidies and individual mandates. Of course, the Massachusetts health insurance reforms have had their own issues, but Romney is more likely to have learned from those mistakes.
  • Obama has appointed a handful of other Republicans to cabinet posts in the past, although there may be less appetite for bipartisanship on both sides than there was post-inauguration.

The prospects of Romney taking a job in the Obama administration are relatively unlikely. After all, he’s making another run at the Republican presidential nomination in 2012. In order to gain primary support, he has largely disowned the “Romneycare” that he once touted as a conservative solution that promotes personal responsibility. However, his management and venture capital experience may work against him in a political climate where so-called “establishment” party members are being shunned.

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Health Insurance Companies Sue Over Rate Increase Denials

Tuesday, April 6th, 2010

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Possibly a sign of things to come: in Massachusetts, health insurance companies are suing over the recent denial of their proposed rate increases.

Governor Deval Patrick denied most of 274 proposed premium increases. Some health insurance plans asked to increase their rates by nearly 34%. Opponents of the move believe that it is a cynical political stunt (Patrick is running for re-election this year), and that it will lead to $100 million in losses.

The healthcare reform bill sets up a similar regulatory system on the federal level; the Department of Health and Human Services will have the power to regulate rates. Health insurers won’t take it laying down.

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Will People Game The System With Short Term Health Insurance?

Monday, April 5th, 2010

(Image: Darwin Bell under CC 3.0)

Healthcare reform, including the employer and individual health insurance mandate, is very controversial. A recent report from Massachusetts exposes why, as unpleasant as it sounds, a mandate may be necessary. Supporters of the mandate have warned that without it, consumers would forgo coverage when they were healthy and buy health insurance plans only when they got sick–actions that completely upend the insurance industry.

It turns out that last year, several hundred individuals took advantage of reforms in Massachusetts through short term health insurance. From Blue Cross Blue Shield alone, they purchased coverage for periods of three months or less, yet filed extremely costly claims. Although they paid an average of $400 a month in health insurance premiums, their average monthly claims were over $2,000!

This example should inspire the federal government to write regulations combating the practice. Waiting periods for certain costly pre-planned treatments (such as knee surgery or fertility services) may be the solution. The purchase of temporary health insurance could also be limited to twice a year, barring major life changes.

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Scott Brown Warns Democrats Against Passing Healthcare Reform

Thursday, March 11th, 2010

(Image: Boston.com)

New Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown has largely stayed under the radar since his election in January, although the impact of his win has reached far and wide. With 41 seats in the Senate, Republicans can now use the filibuster. The Obama administration has now resorted to pushing for budget reconciliation to avoid that and pass affordable health insurance reforms.

Brown thinks that wouldn’t be a smart move. He sees his victory as a message America is sending to Washington: kill the current bill. Whether or not the newly proposed changes (which include a handful of Republican proposals) are any more appealing to him than the bill he previously ran against is unknown, but the process by which they would become law appears somewhat unseemly. According to Brown, his state will be especially hurt, largely because there has already been Massachusetts health insurance reform–they’ll be subsidizing other states that didn’t take those steps, when it should be each state’s individual decision. Like many GOP politicians, he believes that Democrats will face massive losses in the fall elections if they go it alone and ignore their wishes.

President Obama has said that healthcare reform can’t wait, and that he is willing to be a one-term president in order to achieve the goals that he feels have been neglected by previous administrations. Do congressional Democrats have the same lack of self-preservation?

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