US Healthcare Spending To Grow 5.2% Yearly To 2023

UnitedHealth Group hiked its 2019 forecast again after the addition of hundreds of clinics to its health care services business contributed to a better-than-expected third quarter. UnitedHealth Group Inc. provides health insurance for more than 49 million people but also has been expanding well beyond that focus through its Optum segment.

–Six years after Health Insurance Exchanges were first launched as a result of the Affordable Care Act, Americans report they are largely satisfied with their healthcare options, according to a survey of 3,760 adults ages 18-64 in August 2019 by national nonprofit Transamerica Center for Health Studies ®. “Health costs can be very expensive, particularly for…

The sanction from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services applies to just one of United’s many contracts with the federal government to sell Medicare Advantage health plans, and doesn’t apply to coverage sold in Minnesota. “CMS imposed enrollment sanctions on a subsidiary of UnitedHealthcare… because the organization did not meet a Medical Loss…

Cost of International Health Insurance in 100 countries- Infographic. Of the 100 countries, the average international health insurance premiums for individuals ranged from USD $8,887 in the US to USD $2,728 in Thailand. Meanwhile, the average international health insurance premiums for families ranged from USD $26,883 in the US to USD $10,842 in Thailand.

Oct. 14– With Medicare’s annual fall enrollment period starting Oct. 15, President Donald Trump has issued an executive order to enhance Medicare Advantage– privately run Medicare plans he described as more efficient and a greater value than traditional Medicare. People with Medicare Advantage– managed-care plans run by insurance companies– on average are…

Oct. 13– MICHIGAN CITY– The United States almost certainly will end up with “Medicare for All,” unless the health care industry immediately embraces price transparency and competition. Mike Braun, R- Ind., who said business owners, like himself, are fed up with annual insurance rate increases, and many are at the point where they’d just as soon shift the burden of…

Taxpayers could have to shell out nearly $23 billion a year to provide Obamacare coverage to illegal immigrants, according to a new analysis being released Thursday that puts a high price tag on one of the Democratic presidential candidates’ top election promises. Nearly 5 million illegal immigrants have incomes that would qualify them for Obamacare’s…

Oct. 10– Pollsters on both sides of the aisle agree that it’s Democrats who have the advantage on one of the 2020 election’s top issues: health care. The analysis from Democratic pollsters Celinda Lake and Paul Maslin, GOP pollster B.J. Martino and Republican strategist Brian Reisinger came during a WisPolitics.com polling summit in Madison Wednesday…

In this AM BestTV episode, Sally Rosen, senior director, Doniella Pliss, director and Jason Hopper, associate director, all of AM Best, said U.S. health insurers have continued to adapt to changes brought about from the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and its modifications. That has not been the case in the health insurance industry,” he said.“ I think most…

Newtown Sq, PA—- 10/10/2019– Medicare supplement leads need to be fresh to be worked with any degree of confidence. That is to say that the fresher the lead, the better, and no other insurance agents have been calling the lead. “The best Medicare supplement leads are those that are pre-vetted, pre-screened, are asking for information, come in real time and only come to” you, “…

MILWAUKEE – (Oct. 10, 2019) – Zywave, a leading insurance tech provider, today released the results from its highly anticipated…

WASHINGTON- The Trump administration on Wednesday proposed overhauling decades-old Medicare rules originally meant to deter fraud and abuse but now seen as a roadblock to coordinating better care for patients. The rules under revision were intended to counter self-dealing and financial kickbacks among service providers such as hospitals, clinics and…

Chris Sununu vetoed legislation that would raise New Hampshire’s minimum wage to $12 per hour, but every Democratic presidential candidate with a polling average of at least 5% in the Granite State promises to hike the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour. As New Hampshire’s first-in-the-nation presidential primary nears, Democratic candidates continue…

—The Trump administration on Wednesday proposed overhauling decades-old Medicare rules originally meant to deter fraud and abuse but now seen as a roadblock to coordinating better care for patients. The rules under revision were intended to counter self-dealing and financial kickbacks among service providers such as hospitals, clinics and doctors.

Oct. 8– ASHEBORO– It took nearly three months for Dr. District Court Judge Sarah Lanier on Tuesday found Conway guilty of driving while impaired and misdemeanor child abuse for his actions during the accident on June 22. That day, Conway steered his Cadillac Escalade into the back of a tractor-trailer while traveling on Interstate 85 near Archdale.

Oct. 8– JEROME– Terri Van Zante left a full-time job making $12 per hour so she could take care of her mom. The bad news: It ends up being about $2.58 per hour for the 24/ 7 job, with no vacations or holidays and lots of extra work to get the pay. Van Zante had to have her Jerome home certified by the State of Idaho so she can take care of her mother, Shirley Merchant, after years of…

No changes are in store for retirees who are already collecting pension benefits, with GE to continue offering 401 pension plans that include company contributions. GE has thousands of former employees and retirees in Connecticut who worked until 2016 in Fairfield, where the company had been based before relocating executives to Boston, and other area…

In 2019, Caitlin Block has paid as much as $552 a month to buy insulin, a drug she needs to stay alive. Block is the kind of consumer Minnesota insurers had in mind when they announced huge cuts in out-of-pocket spending in 2020 on insulin. HealthPartners already offers some plans that cap insulin costs at $25, and there are plans to expand that soon.

ORLANDO- On a trip to one of the country’s largest retirement community in Florida Thursday, President Donald Trump signed an executive order expanding Medicare Advantage, the program’s private option. “This means we’re putting money back into the pocket of America’s seniors,” Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Seema Verma said at the…

Three Hamilton County Schools employees have been suspended without pay amid an internal investigation by the district after they were implicated in a federal insurance fraud scheme involving prescription pain creams. Keitha Booker, assistant principal and athletic director at East Hamilton School, and Katrich Hale, a teacher and coach at The Howard…

Republicans in the state House are working on a proposal to expand the federal coverage program for the poor. Republicans in the Senate say they’re not interested in Medicaid expansion. Meanwhile, some Republicans in rural North Carolina feel neglected as they await solutions.

DES MOINES, Iowa& CHICAGO—- Organizations that sponsor 403 plans reported growth in plan participation and contribution rates, according to the eleventh annual 403 plan survey from the Plan Sponsor Council of America. The survey, which is sponsored by Principal Financial Group ®, reported increased contributions by both participants and organizations…

Medicare’ s fall enrollment period, which runs from Oct. 15 through Dec. 7, is a time for people to review their coverage to be sure it’ s still right for them and make any needed changes. People with traditional Medicare who purchase a Part D plan to cover their prescription drugs may want to check that their current plan still offers the best coverage for their…

These findings are contained in a new brief from the Center for State and Local Government Excellence and the Boston College Center for Retirement Research, Update on the Funded Status of State and Local Pension Plans– FY 2018. The research is available here. This research was conducted by CRR researchers Jean-Pierre Aubry, associate director of state and…

Medicaid Director Maureen Corcoran said Ohio is getting a better deal on prescription drugs since switching to a new drug-pricing system designed to rein in pharmacy middlemen. However questions remain about Medicaid’s $3 billion a year drug program:. •Because of technical issues, the analysis by Health Plan Data Solutions, a Columbus consultant, included…

The Pennsylvania Public School Employees’ Retirement System voted in August to invest $300 million with Platinum Equity Capital Partners Fund V, run by Platinum Equity LLC and its founder, Detroit Pistons owner Tom Gores. He says such funds– long a favored choice of the state’ s pension managers– lock up capital for years, charge high fees, and can’ t be counted on to do…

Medicare Advantage customers are about to be blitzed with an array of new insurance benefits that stray well beyond the usual coverage of doctor visits and other care. Carpet shampooing, food for a service dog, pest control and rides to a nutritionist are among the new supplemental health benefits that privately run versions of the government’s Medicare…

Sep. 26– The leader of North Carolina’s largest health insurer resigned as CEO Wednesday, a move that comes after new information emerged about his June drunken-driving arrest that threatened a merger with an Oregon- based company. His departure comes amid mounting pressure from insurance regulators who are furious that Blue Cross failed to share details of…

The numbers come from an annual national survey by the California- based Kaiser Family Foundation on cost trends for employer health plan coverage, the market where about 153 million Americans obtain health insurance via private-sector carriers. “The single biggest issue in health care for most Americans is that their health costs are growing much faster…

Sep. 25– RALEIGH– North Carolina’s top insurance regulator is calling for the leader of Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina to resign in the wake of the CEO’s arrest on charges of driving while impaired and misdemeanor child abuse. In a news conference Wednesday in Gastonia, North Carolina Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey accused the insurer of…

CHICAGO, Illinois, Sept. 25– The University of Illinois’s Chicago Campus issued the following news release:. According to a new study, “Good for your Fiscal Health? The effect of the Affordable Care Act on Healthcare Borrowing Costs, “from the Government Finance Research Center at the University of Illinois at Chicago, hospitals also have benefited from reduced…

And in the Netherlands— one of the few wealthy nations other than the U.S. where patients face a deductible— insurers usually must cover all medical care after the first 385 euros, roughly $431. “The U.S. likes to see itself on par with other high-income countries,” said Jonathan Cylus, a former economist at the Department of Health and Human Services who now studies…

Here in Florida and throughout the country, getting access to quality, affordable health care is hard enough as it is. Instead, we have proposal after proposal suggesting we move in the opposite direction: one that would cede control of our health-care system to the U.S. government. Not only would this approach fail to address the key issues most Americans face…

The U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of California, McGregor W. Scott, issued the following news release:. District Judge Morrison C. England Jr. to four years and three months in prison for his role in a scheme to defraud the state of California by filing false unemployment insurance claims, U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott announced. Pamela Emanuel, 58, of San…

In his autobiography, Sutton denied the quote, but it serves as a warning to those who fear Democrats will come after their retirement savings because that’s where the money is. The Wall Street Journal reports on what may be coming should a Democrat win the White House in next year’s election: “For the richest Americans, Democrats want to shift toward taxing their…

NASHVILLE– Tennessee on Tuesday formally became the first state in the nation to start the process of seeking a controversial federal Medicaid block grant waiver pushed by the Trump administration. Health and Human Services officials agree, it could provide upwards of $1 billion for Tennessee. “We’re excited about the prospects, and we think we have crafted a…

Sep. 16– Independent pharmacists are urging residents to press state legislators to support several bills that would result in more oversight of companies that administer prescription drug plans for the state Medicaid program. The firms, known as pharmacy benefit mangers, or PBMs, operate in virtual secrecy, with no state oversight or control over their…

Data: U.S. Census Bureau; Chart: Axios Visuals Health care expenses forced 8 million Americans into poverty in 2018, according to the Census Bureau. The big picture: That’s actually an improvement from the past several years, when an annual average of 11 million people fell into poverty because of medical costs — a reflection of the country’s expensive system. How it works:…

Medicare for All is a popular idea- 70 percent of Americans say they support it, including 52 percent of Republicans. The most recent hospital closure happened in Fentress County, a rural farming community with just under 20,000 people and a median household income around $20,000. In early June, its Jamestown Regional Hospital announced it was “temporarily…

Sep. 15– One of the most generous health insurance plans enjoyed by a California public servant last year– costing $80,665– went to a communications manager for the obscure Water Replenishment District of Southern California. At the embattled Los Angeles Department of Water and Power– raided by the FBI in July, and yet to produce documents detailing how a worker…

Sep. 14– Connecticut’s insurance commissioner said Friday that the department has scaled back requests for rate increases on the state’s health insurance exchange, which provides coverage under the Affordable Care Act. Connecticut consumers will save about $54 million, Mais said. The Insurance Department issued its final rulings on 14 health insurance…

Amy Klobuchar blasted “Medicare-for-all,” defended her record as a prosecutor in Minnesota and said she supports a voluntary gun buyback program during the third Democratic presidential debate in Houston on Thursday. Those three moments were reflective of a more aggressive approach from the Minnesota senator and presidential candidate in her latest…

Montana Commissioner of Securities and Insurance Matt Rosendale issued the following news release:. If Montanans receive mail labeled with ” Health Insurance Innovations Restitution Fund” or ” Dahl Administration,” they should open the letter and follow the instructions contained in it. The restitution fund is being administered by Dahl Administration in…

While on a business trip, a technician for a French railway company died of a cardiac arrest after having sex with a woman he had met, BBC News reports. Appeal court judges in Paris ruled recently that because Xavier X– his name in court records– was in Meung-sur- Loire, France, on assignment for TSO, the death counts as a workplace accident and his company is liable and…

The U.S. Census Bureau today released 2018 data that show the number of children without health insurance in America rose to 5.5 percent, an increase of more than 10 percent. Children are not moving to private insurance, the data show, contrary to claims by the Trump Administration. *The chilling effect of the Trump Administration’s public charge rule and…

Americans have health on their minds. Nearly four in 10 voters think health care is the most important policy issue our country faces. Already, the United States is facing shortages in the supply of care.

New survey data from the Nationwide Retirement Institute ® reveals 63% of younger adults believe their health today will impact how much they need to save for retirement, and 69% of older adults note that one of their top fears in retirement is their health care costs going out of control. “Health care costs and related financial concerns are a common thread…

–Milliman, Inc., a premier global consulting and actuarial firm, today released the results of its latest Pension Funding Index, which analyzes the 100 largest U.S. corporate pension plans. As a result, the funded status deficit ballooned from $219 billion at the end of July to $306 billion as of August 31, an $87 billion funding decrease for these plans.