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Mercer: Health insurance costs expected to rise next year — again

Health care expenses for U.S. employers are expected to increase next year at the lowest rate in more than a decade, but the cost of benefits for workers is likely to outpace the growth of their earnings, a national survey has found. Companies expect their bills for health benefits to rise 5.4 percent on average next year, the smallest increase since 1997, according to preliminary results from a survey of nearly 1,600 employers by benefits consulting firm Mercer.

23 Sep 2011

Longer looks: Breast cancer fundraising; treating autism

Though breast cancer researchers and advocates perpetually plead for more money, the disease is, in fact, awash in it. Last year, the National Institutes of Health, the nation's top agency for health-related research, allocated $763 million to the study of breast cancer, more than double what it committed to any other cancer.

23 Sep 2011

BlueCross report examines national health care reform's impact on Tennessee

A research based report from the newly-established BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee Health Institute takes an in-depth look at national health care reform's possible positive and negative effects on Tennessee.

23 Sep 2011

State roundup: N.Y. to pay $5 million to end suit over autistic teen's death

The State of New York has agreed to pay $5 million to settle two civil suits brought by the family of a boy with autism who died in state care, among the larger wrongful-death settlements ever paid by the state.

23 Sep 2011

As Congress searches for health care savings, care coordination for dual eligibles may offer an opportunity

Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said during a Wednesday Senate Finance Committee hearing that the current lack of coordination for people who are on both Medicare and Medicaid leads to massive amounts of waste and low-quality care, but an Obama administration official said more time was needed to address this issue. Also, a new report written by Emory University's Kenneth Thorpe and funded by America's Health Insurance Plans sets a high possible savings estimate if this coordination goal can be achieved.

23 Sep 2011

Viewpoints: Ron Paul, USA Today on individual mandate; NYT's Greenhouse on court challenges to health law

Massachusetts leads the nation in health insurance coverage of its citizens, and Texas is dead last. You'd think that former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney would be bragging about his role in making his state No. 1, and that Texas Gov. Rick Perry would be embarrassed by how poorly his state is doing. But that's not how the script is playing out … That's odd, though, because the mandate was born as a conservative response to President Clinton's much maligned health reform proposal.

23 Sep 2011

A million young adults step into health insurance cover

Almost 1 million young adults have signed on to new health insurance policies, government statistics released Wednesday show. Government officials credit the new federal health care law for making that possible. A survey by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that the number of Americans ages 19 to 25 without insurance fell to 9.1 million in the first three months of 2011 from 10 million in 2010.

22 Sep 2011

First Edition: September 22, 2011

In today's headlines, reports that young adults are making gains in health coverage rates.

22 Sep 2011

HealthWell Foundation introduces new lupus fund

The HealthWell Foundation, a nonprofit organization providing financial assistance to insured patients facing a variety of chronic and life-altering illnesses, announces the launch of a new fund supporting treatment for Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE), the most common form of lupus.

22 Sep 2011

State-federal tensions surround plans for health exchanges

At a meeting this week, state regulators offered their objections to the Obama administration's plans. One focus was the partnership model which would utilize joint state-federal operation of some exchanges. Meanwhile, in Minnesota, GOP lawmakers step-up their criticism of the state's efforts.

22 Sep 2011

Four insurers may help provide answers to health cost puzzle

Four major health insurers announced plans yesterday to pool their health care claims data into a single database to enable researchers to mine for information about trends in costs, utilization and intensity of care.

22 Sep 2011

Rockefeller: 'Blended rate' proposal could be end of CHIP

The $320 billion package of Medicare and Medicaid cuts President Obama announced yesterday as part of his plan to reduce deficit spending would effectively end the Children's Health Insurance Program, Sen. John D. Rockefeller IV said Tuesday. Rockefeller, D-W.Va., a leading advocate of the program on Capitol Hill, was referring specifically to a part of the plan, known as the "blended rate" proposal that would start in 2017.

22 Sep 2011

States get grants to aid rate-review efforts

On Tuesday, the Obama administration announced $109 million in grants to states to help them improve insurance industry oversight, especially regarding their scrutiny of premium increases.

22 Sep 2011

Insurance commissioners plan to challenge efforts to extract more money from Medigap plans

Members of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners are developing a letter to members of Congress in which they will oppose attempts to extract more money from Medicare enrollees who buy Medigap insurance - an option the president has now backed for new enrollees.

22 Sep 2011

Viewpoints: Progressives relish fight for 'shared sacrifice;' Desmond Tutu seeks to renew battle against HIV

To get our books in order, Obama would raise taxes on the rich while gaining savings by ending the wars abroad and reducing Medicare and Medicaid's unnecessarily high payments to drug companies. Republicans rise in defense of tax cuts for the wealthy and insist that deficit reduction come solely from cuts in Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid and other "entitlements." The president stands for shared sacrifice; the Republicans for sheltering the privileged few. Progressives will have no problem standing with the president in this fight.

22 Sep 2011

HHS publishes guidance for health exchange state partnership model

Meanwhile, Arizona's efforts to create an exchange are morphing into a political hot potato. Also in the news, WellPoint has purchased its own private exchange to compete with the state-run versions envisioned in the health law.

21 Sep 2011

GOP presidential hopeful Rick Perry's record on women's health scrutinized

As the GOP presidential primary campaign continues to heat up, news outlets focus on Texas Gov. Rick Perry's state policy record: An NPR report today examines his funding for women's health. Meanwhile, Michele Bachmann offers her take on employer-sponsored health insurance.

21 Sep 2011

Aetna supports mHealth diabetes initiative in India

Aetna, a leading global diversified health care benefits company, announced that it is participating in a diabetes prevention program in India led by non-profit Arogya World that strives to reach one million consumers via mobile text messages.

21 Sep 2011

Politics, posturing swirl around Obama plan

President Barack Obama made clear that any cuts to entitlement programs like Medicare and Medicaid had to be accompanied by increased taxes for wealthy people and corporations. Many news outlets are analyzing the impact of the line in the sand he drew on the issues.

21 Sep 2011

Kansas Medicaid 'imperiled,' says Lt. Governor; audit finds La. Medicaid providers received improper payments

Meanwhile, Texas pharmacists are lining up against the state's push to put more people in Medicaid managed care and payment arrangements for Connecticut's Medicaid medical homes programs are drawing debate.

21 Sep 2011