UPMC Reports $17B Revenue Despite Pandemic

Nov. 25– Health insurance costs increased by around $1.2 million for the local Glynn County government in the last year, according to finance personnel. About $800,000 of the $1.2 million overage went to health care, and the remaining is related to prescriptions, interim Chief Financial Officer Tamara Munson explained to the county's finance committee at a…

Raphael Warnock are squaring off over how to bolster health care and insurance coverage amid a bruising stretch of campaign attack ads in Georgia. Warnock, the Democratic senior pastor of Atlanta's Ebenezer Baptist Church, has fixed health care as the hallmark issue of his campaign to unseat Loeffler, who until recently gave few insights on the campaign trail…

Nov. 23– Pennsylvania's new state-run health exchange is among the many pieces of the Affordable Care Act that would be in peril if the Trump administration's attack on it prevails in the Supreme Court, consumer advocates warn. Republicans as well Democrats touted Pennsylvania's shift to the state-run exchange– which cleared the General Assembly with…

—A Mississippi doctor has been acquitted on seven of eight counts against him in what prosecutors said was about $18 million in health care fraud involving expensive prescription pain cream. Prosecutors said the fraud began in Mississippi and cost insurers about $515 million in that state and $1.5 billion nationwide. Auzenne was accused of taking $127,000…

Nov. 22– Monongalia County Health Officer Lee Smith said he believes the health department's insurance provider is using COVID-19 to engage in price gouging. Both Smith and the Monongalia County Commission are asking Attorney General Patrick Morrisey to get involved. In a letter to Morrisey, Smith explains that the cost of the MCHD's essential liability…

Nov. 21– Gone are the long lines for airport security, the backed-up traffic greeting family members visiting for Thanksgiving and the chaotic ritual of jostling among crowds to pick up luggage. As the Thanksgiving holiday week got underway Saturday, Bay Area airports were quiet, at times nearly empty– perhaps an encouraging sign travelers are heeding health…

Obamacare has a long-standing friend in President- elect Joe Biden. Although he failed to fulfill a campaign promise to repeal it entirely, President Donald Trump has taken a series of actions to restrict two of its pillars: subsidized coverage for low-income buyers through online exchanges and broader eligibility for Medicaid. Trump is also supporting a…

In most countries with universal health insurance, physicians are paid on a fee-for-service basis, yet health care prices there are lower than in the U.S.. U.S. policy makers emphasize the need to reduce the volume of care that the system provides, but prior research shows that U.S. health care expenditures are higher than in other countries because of the price,…

A divided Congress due to a presumptive Republican-controlled Senate will translate into legislative gridlock, Fitch Ratings says, and that means the outcome of the 2020 election is neutral to health insurers’ credit profiles.

In 2014, when new eligibility rules allowed more people in the state to participate in the federal health program, 570,000 New Mexico patients were enrolled. Meanwhile, Rowberry said, spending has increased from $3.9 billion in 2014 to $5 billion in 2019, and it is expected to rise to $5.8 billion in the current fiscal year. Catherine Dry, another program…

This year, 15,005 Alachua County residents are enrolled in an ACA plan. Marion County has 22,114 enrollees including 5,907 new policy holders. Enrollment in 2019 also increased in Levy, Gilchrist and Bradford counties.

Nov. 18– CalPERS leaders approved a 77% premium increase for its long term care insurance plans Tuesday, seven years after the announcement of a similar increase spurred a lawsuit. The new rates will be introduced over two years, with a 52% hike coming in July 2021 and a 25% increase in July 2022, Chief Health Director Don Moulds told the California Public Employees'…

For those employed and unemployed ages 55 to 64, most are worried about their ability to afford health insurance before reaching the current Medicare eligibility age of 65. Fifty-seven percent of the employed group is worried, and 62% of the unemployed group feels the same.

It’ s been 10 years, and Republicans still can’ t quit Obamacare. It faced challenges in the Supreme Court in 2012 and 2015, and was upheld both times. Now, as coronavirus continues to take lives, and with two months left in the White House for Trump, the fight over Obamacare is before the Supreme Court once again.

Nov. 15– The overhaul of Ohio's Medicaid program has farther reaching consequences than CareSource. Five insurance plans manage these policies in Ohio. Loren Anthes, Medicaid researcher with Cleveland- based Center for Community Solutions, reported that the state had a “secret shopper” program that found trying to learn more about Medicaid member consumer…

The Internal Revenue Service, Employee Benefits Security Administration and Department of Health and Human Services has issued a rule, published in the Federal Register, entitled: “Transparency in Coverage”. The rule was issued by Sunita Lough, Deputy Commissioner for Services and Enforcement, Internal Revenue Service, David J. Kautter, Assistant Secretary of…

Although open enrollment season is the logical opportunity to start this journey with workers, the effort should not end there – employers must educate and support workers all year round.

(Toronto, ON, November 12, 2020) – Fraternal life insurer Foresters Financial today announces the launch of a diabetes management benefit…

Nov. 12– Preventive health care options ushered in by the Affordable Care Act helped doctors detect cancer in more patients earlier and may have reduced the number of late-stage cancer diagnoses around the country, University of Pittsburgh researchers found in a study released Thursday. “The thing that is sort of potentially groundbreaking with the study is…

But the plan is sure to face long odds, even if the Democrats can snag control of the Senate in January by winning two runoff elections in Georgia. Republicans, who fought the creation of Medicare in the 1960 s and typically oppose expanding government entitlement programs, are not the biggest obstacle. “Hospitals certainly are not going to be happy with it,” said…

Dear Savvy Senior: Will my Medicare benefits be affected if Obamacare is overturned by the Supreme Court? If the Affordable Care Act- also known as Obamacare- gets repealed by the Supreme Court next year, it will weaken Medicare and increase costs for beneficiaries. Here's what you should know.

More than two-thirds (70%) of 2019 long-term care insurance policy claimants received initial benefit payments for care at home according…

State officials are encouraging sign-ups through the MNsure exchange despite arguments Tuesday at the U.S. Supreme Court over the future of the federal Affordable Care Act. A final decision isn't expected until next year in the court case, which argues the federal health law is unconstitutional because Congress zeroed out the tax penalty for individuals…

Nov. 10– Advocates of Obamacare warned Tuesday that New Hampshire's health care system will fall into chaos if the U.S. Supreme Court, which heard a challenge to the Affordable Care Act on Tuesday, renders it unconstitutional. Nearly 8% of New Hampshire residents– about 104,900 people– obtain health care coverage from the two main pillars of the law– Medicaid…

With Republican control of the Senate appearing likely, the Democrats’ hopes for health care, family leave, retirement and tax reforms are scuttled, a Mercer analyst said at a webinar.

Nov. 10– Pfizer reported Monday its COVID-19 vaccine, partly developed in Connecticut, showed more than 90 percent effectiveness in the first weeks of clinical trials, raising hopes for an end to a coronavirus scourge that has claimed more than 1 million lives and gripped the world in recession. The virus could be available in a limited supply by the end of year, an…

Since March, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has begun covering more than 135 types of different telehealth visits, from routine visits to emergency consultations to rehabilitation and home health care. Take the University of Washington medical system, for example, where about 11% of pre-pandemic Medicare patients participated in…

In the Philadelphia region and nationally, the coronavirus pandemic has sharply reduced the number of nursing home residents, both because so many elderly have died and because families are warier than ever of placing loved ones in the facilities. Demand for beds will bounce back from COVID-19 lows, given the aging of the U.S. population, said Bill Kauffman,…

Whoever is declared the winner of the presidential election won’t have a clear mandate to accomplish his policy goals, and that includes health care.

“These findings are consistent with the idea that the ACA regulations on health plans may have addressed income-related disparities in contraception use and unintended births,” said Dalton, director of the University of Michigan's Program on Women's Health Care Effectiveness Research. Nearly half of all pregnancies in the United States, and unintended…

A federal judge has ordered UnitedHealth Group to reprocess tens of thousands of claims from behavioral health patients to remedy its past usage of overly restrictive coverage guidelines– a“ fundamentally flawed” approach, the judge ruled last year, that was“ tainted” by the health insurer’ s financial interests. The order Tuesday came more than a year after…

The Centers for Medicare& Medicaid Services announced that federal officials on Sunday signed off on Gov. Georgia would be the first state where residents would buy insurance directly from brokers or insurers on sites where they would be able to compare plans that meet the requirements of the ACA— President Barack Obama's signature health law— with those that…

HealthPartners is offering more than $40 million in premium credits to employer and individual customers– the latest insurer to announce financial help for customers in the midst of fewer medical claims. Altogether, health plans that provide coverage to more than 300,000 people will benefit, Bloomington-based HealthPartners said, although employers…

1 marks the beginning of the open enrollment period for consumers shopping for health insurance plans under the Affordable Care Act. Open enrollment continues through Dec. 15 for coverage beginning Jan. 1. The following answers are provided by Lori Jensen, Heather Gunnoe and Cinnamon Young, certified application counselors at AxessPointe Community Health…

The Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, requires that most Americans either maintain a minimum level of health care coverage or pay a specified amount to the Internal Revenue Service. In 2012, the Supreme Court upheld this mandate as a legitimate exercise of Congress' taxing power. After 50+ unsuccessful attempts to repeal, the Republican-led senate…

The pandemic is accelerating the trend of employees going into the gig world. Now, insurance companies are looking at how to serve that population missing out of disability coverage, according to Forrester Research.

The Affordable Care Act has been around for close to a decade but this year’ s open enrollment period, which starts Nov. 1, is in a class by itself. For one thing, hanging over it is the possibility that the Supreme Court will strike down some or all of Obamacare now that it has an overwhelming conservative majority following the speedy appointment of Justice Amy Coney…

As a powerful new wave of infections sweeps the U.S. just ahead of Election Day, the nation's handling of the nearly 8- month-old crisis has been marked by what health experts see as grave missteps, wasted time and squandered opportunities by leaders at all levels of government. Irwin Redlener of the National Center for Disaster Preparedness at Columbia…

–Long-term care insurance tax-deductible limits have just been increased offering seniors as much as $420 in additional deductible benefits according to the American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance. “Tax deductibility for those purchasing certain government-approved long-term care insurance is an incredible benefit,” explains Jesse Slome,…

Singer Christina Aguilera“ is an Obama-supporting Democrat and a gay-rights supporting liberal,” the list says, and actor Jack Black is“ known to be a classic Hollywood liberal.” A public service announcement by comedian George Lopez was“ not moving forward due to previous concerns regarding his comments regarding the president,” according to the documents.

On Monday, they rescinded that contract and approved staying with United Healthcare for another year at a cost of $21.2 million. The CEBCO cost was $21.3 million, a $128,000 difference, according to County Administrator Judi Boyko. Commissioner Don Dixon told the Journal-News that United Healthcare threatened to sue because the commissioners' broker didn't…

Many protection specialists will agree that the most valuable asset for working-age clients is their income. Without an income stream,…

OMAHA, Neb. – Mutual of Omaha has introduced a new disability income insurance product featuring a fully digital experience and…

N.C. Department of Insurance representatives “will never go door-to-door asking for personal information,” state Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey says. Perpetrators ask to see residents' current health insurance policies, then say they could offer a better rate and ask for Social Security, bank and other personal information. That way they'll be notified…

Oct. 26– Three of the best health plans California state workers and retirees can buy are speeding toward collapse, according to CalPERS insurance experts. The plans may be salvaged, but a proposed solution likely will involve price increases for young, healthy workers, Health Plan Research and Administration Division Chief Marta Green has told the CalPERS…

THE CLAIM: Democrats voted to fine American citizens for not buying health insurance and conspired to give it to “illegal aliens” for free. A widely shared post on social media claims: “The Democrats voted to fine American citizens for not buying insurance, and then conspired to give it to illegal aliens for free.” Although the health care overhaul signed into law by…

Oct. 25– Health care is once again a big issue in the race for the NY-21 Congressional District seat, as the nation grapples with a pandemic and the U.S. Supreme Court is about to hear a case that could strike down the Affordable Care Act. Elise Stefanik, R- Schuylerville, continues to hammer Democratic opponent Tedra Cobb for her previous support of Medicare for All,…

Maine is not alone as millions across the country have joined the federal-state health care program for low-income people during a pandemic that prompted record-smashing unemployment filings. The national economic recovery has been slow, with 50,000 fewer jobs in Maine alone this September relative to the pre-pandemic month of February.