Health Insurance News and Research

RSS

States question exchange readiness, appropriateness and effects

Officials in some states are expressing pessimism that the new Obamacare health insurance exchanges will be the place for residents to buy health coverage or are questioning their readiness. In Missouri, the Lt. Gov. is telling residents to stay away from the exchanges.

25 Sep 2013

As opening day approaches, confusion continues about health exchanges

With the Oct. 1 launch of the health law's online insurance marketplaces just days away, news outlets examine questions such as who will use them, what will make them a success, how long will it take to judge whether they are working, and other key issues.

25 Sep 2013

State political dynamics shaping Obamacare implementation in the states

The fights over Obamacare are far from over in Florida -- where a burgeoning Latino population is complicating opposition -- and Alabama, where the governor's stance against the Medicaid expansion and the health insurance exchange is showcasing their resistance.

25 Sep 2013

Battles have reduced health law's impact for consumers

Politico looks at the how the law squares with what it promised and talks to consumers in Kentucky about their expectations. Also, the Wall Street Journal examines one of the tactics health insurers are using to keep healthy customers.

24 Sep 2013

AHCA intents to award contract for MMA program to Centene's Florida subsidiary

Centene Corporation announced today that the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration posted its notice of intent to award a contract for the Managed Medical Assistance program to Centene's Florida subsidiary Sunshine State Health Plan.

24 Sep 2013

First Edition: September 24, 2013

Today's headlines include reports about Senate action on the effort to defund the health law as well as a scheduled appearance by former President Bill Clinton and President Barack Obama to kick off the roll out of a key part of the overhaul.

24 Sep 2013

MLOZ to manage health insurance portfolio with Sapiens IDIT Software Suite

Sapiens International Corporation, a global provider of innovative software solutions for the financial services industry, announced today that MLOZ, the National Federation of Independent Health Insurance Funds, offering services to more than 18% of the Belgian population, has selected Sapiens IDIT Software Suite, to manage its health insurance portfolio, in a multimillion dollar deal.

24 Sep 2013

Harris Poll: Large majorities of Americans know little about new health insurance exchanges

As the new health insurance exchanges prepare to open for business, a new Harris Poll provides more evidence of how few Americans understand how they will work. Large majorities of the public, including the uninsured Americans who are supposed to use the exchanges, know little or nothing about them.

24 Sep 2013

Viewpoints: GOP opponents to health care listening 'only to their own choir,' Congress should turn down federal contribution for insurance

Yes, a majority doesn't like Obamacare. They're unsure about what it will do and worried that it might make their health care worse. But do they really want to defund the law, and risk the chaos of a government shutdown to do it? Probably not, most polls suggest. As one Republican pollster told me, though a majority of voters don't like Obamacare, they're not angry enough about it to risk a fiscal crisis that could hurt the economy. So why are Republican lawmakers hearing a different message? Because most of them represent districts so conservative that they are listening only to their own choir (Doyle McManus, 9/22).

24 Sep 2013

Pretravel consultations, malaria preventive medications save money for travelers to West Africa

Not only do U.S. travelers to West Africa who consult health providers before they leave and take prescribed preventive medications substantially reduce their risk of contracting malaria, they also reduce costs to their health insurance providers and, in most cases, to themselves.

24 Sep 2013

Lobbyists, including restaurant owners, looking to make changes in health law

The efforts, some from strident opponents of the law, suggests they may now believe that they have to learn to live with the measure, The Washington Post reports. Also, Politico examines how President Barack Obama came to embrace the notion of changing health care.

24 Sep 2013

New ad campaigns compete over Obamacare enrollment

The Obama administration and its opponents in implementing the health law are readying to launch ad campaigns aimed at getting people to sign up for or stay away from new online health insurance exchanges that open Oct. 1. Many of the ads are airing in swing states, but they are also aimed at the young and uninsured in California and Texas who are uninsured in the largest numbers.

24 Sep 2013

Marriage improves outcomes among patients with cancer, says oncologist

New results from a large retrospective study of the National Cancer Institute's SEER database show that patients with cancer who were married at the time of diagnosis live markedly longer compared to unmarried patients.

24 Sep 2013

Health law divide opens among GOP presidential hopefuls

Obamacare is dividing the GOP in the race for that party's 2016 presidential nomination and playing a pivotal role in a House special election in Alabama.

24 Sep 2013

Exchange dynamics will dictate consumers' experiences, costs

Health law advocates frequently say health insurance will cost less as a result of the health law, but news outlets report that a downside could be less choice.

24 Sep 2013

First Edition: September 23, 2013

Kaiser Health News staff writer Mary Agnes Carey reports: "Nearly 50 million Americans are enrolled in Medicare, the federal health insurance program for the elderly and disabled. The 2010 health care law, known as the Affordable Care Act, will make some changes to the program.

23 Sep 2013

Almirall and GKV-SV reach agreement on pricing of Sativex medicine in Germany

...

23 Sep 2013

Viewpoints: Florida's 'sabotage' of health law; the irony of conservatives' 'nightmare' ads; Obamacare 'crushes' American families

Kathleen Sebelius, the secretary of health and human services, has been visiting the state to encourage private groups to help residents understand what insurance policies and federal subsidies will be available to them when the enrollment period opens Oct. 1.

21 Sep 2013

State highlights: 850K Texas kids lack health coverage; Calif. counties brace for health department cuts; autism coverage change hailed in Calif.

Texas continued to have the highest rate of people without health insurance in 2012 at 24.6 percent, or more than 6 million residents, according to the Current Population Survey estimates released by the U.S. Census Bureau this week.

21 Sep 2013

Research roundup: 'Cadillac' plan taxes; 'chronic care management' for substance abusers; long-term care services

As health coverage expands to tens of millions of Americans--through Medicaid expansion in states and the new state health insurance exchanges that will soon begin selling individual health coverage--some Americans with employer-sponsored health coverage are seeing their benefits decrease.

21 Sep 2013