Health Insurance News and Research

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Health insurance industry profits examined

The characterization of the health insurance industry as high-profit is "a little mystifying" and "rather silly" given that their profit margins are thin compared to other industries, according to analysts interviewed by ABC News.

11 Nov 2009

Lack of health insurance leads to death of 2,266 U.S. military veterans in 2008

A research team at Harvard Medical School estimates 2,266 U.S. military veterans under the age of 65 died last year because they lacked health insurance and thus had reduced access to care. That figure is more than 14 times the number of deaths (155) suffered by U.S. troops in Afghanistan in 2008, and more than twice as many as have died (911 as of Oct. 31) since the war began in 2001.

11 Nov 2009

Medicare Advantage plans are largely unpopular in rural states

Kansas Health Institute examines Medicare Advantage plans, which are less popular in rural areas, in a series of reports.

11 Nov 2009

House health bill votes stir political action, ads

The Washington Post reports that "the House's passage Saturday of a sweeping health-care bill has pushed the advertising battle over reform into a new phase, as competing groups have taken to the airwaves to thank or punish Democrats for their votes."

10 Nov 2009

White House firm on health reform timeline, sends mixed abortion messages

Roll Call: "Even as Senate Democrats continue to grope for a way forward on health care, the White House asserted Monday that its Dec. 31 deadline for final passage of the legislation is solid. 'When we say the end of the year, we've got a pretty firm end-of-the-year deadline,' White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said."

10 Nov 2009

SBA provision, antitrust exemption and FTC involvement need to be addressed in Senate, says PIA

Inclusion of a provision in the Affordable Health Care for America Act (H.R. 3962) allowing insurance agents to sell health policies offered by health insurance exchanges is positive, but other issues remain to be addressed in the Senate, according to the National Association of Professional Insurance Agents (PIA).

10 Nov 2009

Consortium of researchers produce a special issue that examines healthcare disparities affecting minorities

The Latino population is the nation's largest minority group at an estimated 47 million in 2008 and is predicted to make up 30% of the US population by 2050. At the same time, chronic diseases among Latinos are on the rise and require long-range strategies to prevent and clinically manage. Understanding the healthcare of this fastest growing population is critical to the healthcare debate and reform initiatives.

10 Nov 2009

NATC sponsored national quit smoking program to launch second phase of campaign

With the latest research estimating that nearly six million people worldwide will lose their lives to tobacco next year, an innovative approach is critical to helping the 43 million Americans who smoke to finally quit. This month, which is observed as Lung Cancer Awareness Month, the national quit smoking program, EX(R) will debut the second phase of advertising and promotions designed to help smokers "re-learn" life without cigarettes.

10 Nov 2009

ikaSystems' enterprise-wide systems help lower administrative costs for health plan members

The United States moved a step closer to major healthcare reform this weekend as the House of Representatives voted 220 to 215 to approve a plan that will, among other goals, extend coverage to an estimated 36 million people without insurance, create a government health insurance option and prohibit such contentious insurance company practices as denying coverage for those with pre-existing conditions and rescinding coverage without clear and convincing evidence of fraud.

10 Nov 2009

Speaker Pelosi praises H.R. 3962 that will improve Medicaid access to HIV/AIDS-affected people

"Effective drug treatments have improved both health and quality of life for thousands of Americans living with HIV/AIDS. However, many uninsured, low-income HIV-positive individuals still do not have access to these life-saving medications because they generally do not meet Medicaid requirements until becoming disabled by full-blown AIDS.

10 Nov 2009

Members of Congress who voted "no" on health care reform legislation received $2.3 million more in donations

Members of Congress who noted "no" on health care reform legislation late Saturday night have received $2.3 million more in campaign donations from health insurance interests than those who voted in favor of the legislation to overhaul of the nation's health care system, according to analysis released by a coalition of campaign reform groups.

10 Nov 2009

House-passed abortion restrictions could stir up Senate's health reform debate

The Washington Post: "The abortion issue had been rumbling within the House Democratic caucus for weeks, but Saturday's votes revealed the depths of the fault lines. The amendment passed with the support of 64 Democrats, roughly a quarter of the party caucus." And with an eye on the Senate and eventual conference committee negotiations, abortion-rights supporters are now pledging to strip the amendment out of the underlying health bill.

10 Nov 2009

Narrow House vote is prologue to Senate health reform battle

The 220-215 pencil-thin margin of victory for the House Democrats' health reform bill foreshadows a potentially tougher fight in the Senate, The Wall Street Journal reports.

10 Nov 2009

Washington insurance program may be a national model, Massachusetts may expand autism services

News outlets report on health issues at the state level including a health insurance program in Washington State and a bill to increase coverage for autism services in Massachusetts.

10 Nov 2009

Obesity among other issues debated in health reform

Among other issues making news in the health care reform debate are people's weight, benefits for homosexual partners, the debate over interstate insurance and the timeline for implementing any changes.

10 Nov 2009

Health bill triggers some complaints from industry, though some will benefit

Health care companies stand to gain from legislation that would expand their market to millions of new consumers, but many are also complaining about specific provisions of the House health care overhaul bill, the New York Times reports.

10 Nov 2009

Employees face rising health care costs during open enrollment season

Employees are facing rising health care costs during this open enrollment season.

10 Nov 2009

House healthcare bill is radically off the mark: Cinergy Health

Cinergy Health, a nationwide provider of guaranteed issue health insurance benefit programs for the consumer market, expressed its concern for the house healthcare bill that passed Saturday, November 7th.

9 Nov 2009

Access to health care: Neighboring communities suffer differently

"For people lacking health insurance in the Washington [D.C.] region, where they live can make all the difference in getting affordable health care," The Washington Post reports. In the District of Columbia, the city provides tax-payer funded health insurance to many; though 10 percent of eligible adults remain uninsured, the city is actively seeking them out.

9 Nov 2009

With House hurdle cleared, Democrats reflect on health bill compromises

The Washington Post: "House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and her leadership team won a hard-fought victory on Obama's most critical domestic policy agenda item by neutralizing the most potentially toxic political issue well in advance of the final vote, siding with centrists on their preferred version of the public option. She then publicly dared the progressive wing, with its strong commitment to establishing national health insurance, to take down the entire package because one piece was not to their liking."

9 Nov 2009