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Seechange Health acquires Central Benefits National Life Insurance company

SeeChange Health, the nation’s only fully-insured, value-based health insurance provider, announced today the acquisition of Central Benefits National Life Insurance, a health and life insurance company based in Westerville, OH. The transaction closed on July 31, 2009.

25 Aug 2009

Study reveals that Americans lack confidence in healthcare reforms

Americans lack confidence that healthcare reform will deliver more affordable or better quality medical care, according to a survey released today by the Thomson Reuters.

25 Aug 2009

States pass laws to expand parents' ability to insure 20-somethings

Wall Street Journal reports: "As Washington wrestles with health-care reform, states have been busy passing their own laws to allow many young adults to remain longer on a parent's health insurance."

25 Aug 2009

States worry about cost of Medicaid expansion

Lawmakers are cautious about expanding Medicaid coverage because they worry how it will be funded.

25 Aug 2009

Senators debate cost of insurance subsidies for low-income families

The Wall Street Journal reports that the six Senate Finance Committee negotiators aren't in agreement about subsidies for low-income people to buy insurance.

25 Aug 2009

State of Arizona offers BCBSAZ network option to its employees and their families

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona (BCBSAZ) is pleased to announce the State of Arizona is offering a BCBSAZ network option to approximately 65,000 state employees and their families during the upcoming health insurance open enrollment period.

25 Aug 2009

Senate Democrats plot new strategy, consider reconciliation to pass health bill

Senate Democrats are increasingly considering using budget reconciliation — which would need a simple majority of 51 votes — to pass health care reform without Republican support, The New York Times reports.

25 Aug 2009

Insurance industry may benefit from reform, employees attend town halls to counter criticism

Lashed by liberals and threatened with more government regulation, the insurance industry nevertheless rallied its lobbying and grass-roots resources so successfully in the early stages of the healthcare overhaul deliberations that it is poised to reap a financial windfall," The Los Angeles Times reports.

25 Aug 2009

Survey reveals that many Americans believe controversial statements about health care reform

Findings from a national survey of Americans by researchers from Indiana University Center for Health Policy and Professionalism Research (CHPPR) and the Indiana University Center for Bioethics says that Americans do believe the "myths" about health care reform, confirming that the White House may indeed be losing this battle.

25 Aug 2009

FRC urges Obama to support the exclusion of abortion coverage from healthcare plans

Over the weekend, the White House released President Obama's weekly video address in which the President falsely stated that abortion coverage is not mandated under his health care reform plan. Last week the President accused FRC and other opponents to his plan of breaking the 9th Commandment.

25 Aug 2009

Aetna renews contract with WellStar Health System for three years

Aetna (NYSE: AET) and WellStar Health System in Marietta, Ga., announced today they have reached an agreement on a three-year contract renewal.

25 Aug 2009

National dialysis treatment program under fire; criticized as too costly, risky

Kidney dialysis treatment in the U.S. is costly and has high death rates, but it doesn't have to be that way, USA Today reports: "The vast majority of the more than 350,000 Americans on dialysis are treated in centers, where three treatments a week, three or four hours each, is the norm — not because it's optimal but because that's the way it has been done for nearly four decades.

25 Aug 2009

$10 billion provision may aid retired autoworkers; NFIB opposes house plan

A $10 billion proposal may help retired autoworkers, steelworkers and schoolteachers afford coverage. Meanwhile, the largest small business association has turned against health reform plans.

24 Aug 2009

Aflac releases eighth new television commercial of 2009

Aflac today unveiled its eighth new television commercial of 2009, titled "Soccer." This commercial showcases the Aflac Duck as the web-footed star of the team, who helps provide a solid defense against unexpected medical bills. "Soccer" will debut on August 24, running nationally on CBS, ABC, FOX, NBC, CNN, CNBC, Discover Channel, USA, Headline News and the History Channel.

24 Aug 2009

After vacation, Obama could shift health reform tactics

News organizations are analyzing the health reform challenges ahead for the President.

24 Aug 2009

Economic professors at Baylor suggest that insurance reform must expand coverage to the uninsured 37 million Americans

Two professors at Baylor University's Hankamer School of Business lay out a universal health care plan in their new book Health Care for Us All: Getting More for Our Investment, published by Cambridge University Press, that does not create a government entitlement program or threaten in any way the insurance coverage or health care of Americans who currently have coverage.

24 Aug 2009