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Georgia State Senate praised for passing legislation to help kidney failure patients have access to health insurance

Georgia’s kidney care community today praised the Georgia State Senate for unanimously passing important legislation (S.B. 316) to secure access to needed health insurance for approximately 2,000 Georgians suffering from kidney failure. The bill, which was originally introduced by Senators Don Thomas (R-Dalton) and Ed Harbison (D-Columbus), has received support from across the patient advocacy community and legislators alike.

20 Feb 2010

Accurate CPI for Seniors: RetireSafe calls for support to legislation

Over 95 percent of the 800 seniors who were surveyed by RetireSafe recently said Social Security benefits have not kept up with the actual cost-of-living over the last five years.

20 Feb 2010

Private health insurance around the world may be making health care problems worse

The Economist offers an analysis of private insurance around the world. "Governments are increasingly turning to private insurance in order to widen access to health care and make it more efficient. Are they expecting too much?"

20 Feb 2010

State lawmakers address 'troubling trends' in insurance market

Des Moines (Iowa) Register: "State lawmakers want to press Iowa health insurers to release more details to help lawmakers decide whether rate increases are justified. This week, Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield, the state's largest health insurer, said it would raise rates an average of 18 percent for about 80,000 Iowans who buy their own health insurance" (Jacobs, 2/19).

20 Feb 2010

Sebelius issues sharp rebuke against health insurance premium hikes across U.S.

News outlets paid close attention to HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius' release of a new report detailing double-digit insurance premium hikes for individual plans in six states across the country.

20 Feb 2010

ALEC congratulates Idaho State Representatives for sponsoring Idaho Health Freedom Act

The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC)—the nation's largest nonpartisan individual membership association of state legislators—congratulates Idaho State Representatives Jim Clark, Lynn Luker, and Raul Labrador for their successful sponsorship of HB 391, the Idaho Health Freedom Act, which was passed by the Idaho House of Representatives by a vote of 52 to 18 last week.

19 Feb 2010

Recession swells Medicaid rolls, shrivels treasuries

Nearly every state is considering or already making cuts to its Medicaid program as the recession swells rolls for the state-run health insurance program for the poor, The New York Times reports. Because of requirements for getting stimulus money to support programs, the states are not allowed to curb enrollment, and are instead cutting optional benefits and reimbursement rates. Lower rates could drive more physicians and other providers away from the program, which already pays very low fees.

19 Feb 2010

First Edition: February 19, 2010

Today's headlines highlight a White House plan to "get specific" on health reform, an analysis showing a nationwide jump in Medicaid enrollment and more on the firestorm surrounding health insurance premium increases.

19 Feb 2010

Permitting private health insurance may not obviously weaken public health system

A single payer, fully government funded health care system has often been equated with core Canadian values. It is often argued that a single insurer, the government, is critical to the integrity of the system. Permitting private health insurance, it is claimed, would weaken the public system.

19 Feb 2010

Freedom Healthnet asserts the benefits of private health insurance

Freedom Healthnet (http://www.freedomhealthnet.com/http://www.freedomhealthnet.com/) today affirmed the benefits of private health insurance as the company prepares to launch a range of new products.

19 Feb 2010

HHS releases report highlighting health insurance premium increases

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius today unveiled a new report, Insurance Companies Prosper, Families Suffer: Our Broken Health Insurance System. The report highlights health insurance premium increases in states across the country and comes shortly after Anthem Blue Cross announced plans to raise rates on its California customers by as much as 39 percent, even after its parent company took in a profit of $2.7 billion in the previous quarter. The complete report is available at www.HealthReform.gov.

19 Feb 2010

AARP opposes Idaho Health Freedom Act

In a move that could have dire effects on health care in Idaho, the Senate State Affairs Committee voted yesterday to bring the Idaho Health Care Freedom Act (House Bill 391) one step closer to becoming law

19 Feb 2010

Coalition warns against bogus health plans that promise full health benefits but deliver fewer products

Bogus health plans are spreading rapidly around the U.S., defrauding vulnerable consumers anxious for affordable health coverage in a downturned economy, according to the Coalition Against Insurance Fraud.

19 Feb 2010

Study finds nearly a quarter of prescriptions go unfilled

Many people whose doctors start them on medications for conditions like diabetes and high blood pressure may never fill those prescriptions, a new study suggests. Researchers found that among more than 75,000 Massachusetts patients given drug prescriptions over one year, 22 percent of the prescriptions were never filled.

19 Feb 2010

Universal American announces fourth-quarter and full-year 2009 financial results

Universal American Corp. today announced financial results for the quarter and year ended December 31, 2009.

19 Feb 2010

Some Dems say single health reform bill is close, GOP settles on summit strategy

News outlets report on party politics in advance of the president's health care summit.

19 Feb 2010

Nearly 3.3M more people enrolled in state Medicaid programs in June 2009: New analysis

With the country mired in a deep recession, nearly 3.3 million more people were enrolled in state Medicaid programs in June 2009 compared to the previous June, according to a new analysis by the Kaiser Family Foundation's Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured. It was the biggest ever one-year increase in terms of absolute numbers, and boosted the June monthly Medicaid enrollment by 7.5 percent to 46.9 million people nationally.

19 Feb 2010

HHS report scolds insurers for rate hikes, points to increases as reason for reform

According to an Obama Administration report released Thursday, double-digit insurance premium increases such as the proposed 39 percent one by Anthem Blue Cross in California are a "worrisome sign of the times," The Associated Press reports.

19 Feb 2010

GOP, Democrats staking out reform positions, strategies in advance of health summit

The Associated Press: The White House is preparing a bill "designed to win passage without Republican support if GOP lawmakers fail to embrace bipartisan compromises" during next weeek's White House health summit.

18 Feb 2010

Michigan sends letters to 500,000 warning COBRA expiration

Michigan's state unemployment insurance agency has sent letters to 500,000 residents warning them that their benefits could expire starting in March if Congress fails to act on extending jobless benefits including a federal subsidy for COBRA health insurance, The Detroit News reports.

18 Feb 2010

Health Insurance News and Research

Georgia State Senate praised for passing legislation to help kidney failure patients have access to health insurance

Accurate CPI for Seniors: RetireSafe calls for support to legislation

Private health insurance around the world may be making health care problems worse

State lawmakers address 'troubling trends' in insurance market

Sebelius issues sharp rebuke against health insurance premium hikes across U.S.

ALEC congratulates Idaho State Representatives for sponsoring Idaho Health Freedom Act

Recession swells Medicaid rolls, shrivels treasuries

First Edition: February 19, 2010

Permitting private health insurance may not obviously weaken public health system

Freedom Healthnet asserts the benefits of private health insurance

HHS releases report highlighting health insurance premium increases

AARP opposes Idaho Health Freedom Act

Coalition warns against bogus health plans that promise full health benefits but deliver fewer products

Study finds nearly a quarter of prescriptions go unfilled

Universal American announces fourth-quarter and full-year 2009 financial results

Some Dems say single health reform bill is close, GOP settles on summit strategy

Nearly 3.3M more people enrolled in state Medicaid programs in June 2009: New analysis

HHS report scolds insurers for rate hikes, points to increases as reason for reform

GOP, Democrats staking out reform positions, strategies in advance of health summit

Michigan sends letters to 500,000 warning COBRA expiration

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