In Mass., health insurance program falters; Long term care costs increase

A plan to launch a comprehensive database of all federal workers' health care records is raising concerns, while in Massachusetts, state officials are disappointed that municipalities are not signing up for a new program to help cover workers' insurance needs.

Kaiser Health News: OPM Health Database Stirs Privacy ConcernsAn Office of Personnel Management plan to launch a comprehensive database of federal workers' health care records has raised the ire of some privacy advocates, employee unions and consumer groups (Miles, 12/6). Also in The Washington Post.

Boston Globe: No Takers For Health Insurance Program
Three years after the state flung open the doors for municipalities to join its less costly health insurance program, not a single city or town now wants to come in. The deadline for signing up for the Group Insurance Commission for 2011 passed this week with no takers a disappointment for those who in 2007 believed state government had hit on a plan to save municipalities millions of dollars annually (Murphy, 12/4).

The Baltimore Sun: Americans Are Getting Older And How To Pay For Long-Term Care Must Be Addressed
Long-term care insurance already can be a hard sell because of the price tag, and the latest trends suggest that the cost is headed much higher. This comes as millions of baby boomers have reached their 50s, the age when people typically buy the insurance (Ambrose, 12/5). 

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This article was reprinted from kaiserhealthnews.org with permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Kaiser Health News, an editorially independent news service, is a program of the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan health care policy research organization unaffiliated with Kaiser Permanente.