By David Polen If I asked you to name a billion-dollar-selling employee benefit, accident insurance might not be the first…
Read moreThe Trump administration took another punch at the Affordable Care Act by slashing funding for the navigator program that provides…
Eighty seven percent of workers whose employer enables them to manage life in and outside of work are more loyal and satisfied, according to a MetLife survey that found workers want to be treated like whole people.
Health insurers must guide consumers to the most cost-effective health measures and medical treatments as seamlessly as Amazon Prime serves up suggestions for bedspreads to match the sheets you just bought.
The Trump administration took another punch at the Affordable Care Act by slashing funding for the navigator program that provides…
Signing bonuses. More paid holidays. Paid training. School tuition. Even health insurance for employee’s pets. Anne Woods, an Express Employment…
July 11–As health insurers prepare to file their rate requests today for individual plans in Tennessee next year, the Trump…
–Encouraging working Americans to save more for retirement is a priority for governmental health agencies, employers, 401 plan administrators, and financial advisors. A new white paper, ” Health& Retirement Savings: Leveraging Health Care Costs to Drive 401 Contributions& Improve Health” from HealthyCapital, a joint venture between Mercy and HealthView…
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, citing a federal court decision invalidating a statewide average premium, halted a program for individual and small group commercial markets that called for collections and payments of $10.4 billion for 2017.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said state health insurance marketplaces are increasingly failing to cover people who do not qualify for federal subsidies even as the exchanges remain relatively stable.
July 03– Despite the end of individual mandates and cost sharing payments to insurers, the individual marketplace for health care coverage under the Affordable Care Act will get more insurers and competition for consumers next year in Tennessee. Two new health insurers are planning to enter the Tennessee market in 2019, including a new competitor for the…
UnitedHealth Group issued the following news release:. Of the 325 million people in the United States, employer-sponsored insurance covers 174 million, Medicaid and related State-based health programs cover 75 million, Medicare serves 58 million, Exchanges cover approximately 10 million, and more than 28 million people remain uninsured.
More than 70 percent of Americans over the age of 65 will need long-term health care services, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Yet, according to the Employee Benefit Research Institute, only 13 percent of those who received professional home health care had long-term insurance policies, which can protect seniors from high…
In order to best protect assets from long-term care costs, pre-planning is always the best option. A wide array of planning strategies are available to help keep property in the family or to protect property for charitable beneficiaries. Because Medicaid eligibility requires less than $2,000 in assets, anyone with resources higher than that threshold will…
Now that President Donald Trump’s Department of Justice has decided not to defend the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act in court, what could change for the average person should key provisions be deemed illegal?
Minnesota- based Medica announced this week it has filed documents with the Missouri Department of Insurance to sell its Select plan in Cass, Clay, Jackson and Platte counties. Luke’s, “said Geoff Bartsh, Medica’s vice president and general manager of individual and family business. Major insurers like UnitedHealthcare and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas…
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Employers can offer their workers even more valuable voluntary accident coverage with Colonial Life’s new group accident…
A new Nationwide Retirement Institute survey reveals that 67 percent of older adults plan to use or currently use Medicare and 63 percent plan to use or currently use Social Security to pay for their health care costs in retirement. Even affluent adults say they fear health costs in retirement.
Traditional benefits brokers are doing substantially more business writing voluntary benefits. The change in the business is setting up a market competition between traditional and voluntary benefits brokers.
Health insurance and benefits’ brokers can help their group clients save money by finding ways to cut the cost of their employees’ care. That might be the way forward amid health care uncertainty.
Amazon, JPMorgan Chase and Berkshire Hathaway are turning to well-known author and Harvard professor Dr. Atul Gawande to transform the health care they give their employees. The three corporate titans said Wednesday that Gawande will lead an independent company that focuses on a mission they announced earlier this year: figure out ways to provide high-quality, affordable care.
Boston – Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey and New York Attorney General Barbara D. Underwood today released the following statement:…
The Trump administration finalized plans to let small companies and the self-employed band together and buy health insurance outside of the Affordable Care Act’s strict rules, moving to offer coverage to people priced out of the market by the 2010 health care law.
Even though Congressional Republican leadership said it has moved on from repealing the Affordable Care Act, a coalition of conservative groups compiled their own plan to repeal the health care law.
In a case with billions of dollars at stake, a federal appeals court ruled that the federal government doesn’t have to pay health insurers money they say they are owed under the Affordable Care Act.
The Trump administration’s latest move against the Affordable Care Act could jeopardize legal protections on pre-existing medical conditions for millions of people with employer coverage, particularly workers in small businesses, say law and insurance experts.
UnitedHealth Group is pushing further into the hearing aid business by purchasing the subsidiary of a Swiss hearing aid manufacturer that manages insurance benefits for the devices.
The plan includes premium support, as well as the implementation of an “Innovation Fund” that states can access to mitigate the risk associated with people who suffer from costly, chronic conditions.
The leader of Massachusetts’ second-largest health insurance company says he is resigning over “behavior that was inconsistent” with the company’s values. Eric Schultz announced his resignation Tuesday from Harvard Pilgrim Health Care. He had been chief executive of the Wellesley-based company since 2010, replacing Gov. Charlie Baker.
–SAN FRANCISCO– June 13, 2018– Employers bear more than the costs of medical treatments for employees who suffer with migraine— there are also substantial costs due to lost work time. This is among the findings in a new study released by the Integrated Benefits Institute, a non-profit focused on health and productivity.. It affects nearly one in 10 men and one in five…
Twenty states, including Georgia, are challenging the Affordable Care Act and its constitutionality in court. Last week, in reference to that suit, the Trump administration told a federal court in Texas that it would not defend provisions in the ACA that protect people with pre-existing medical conditions.
The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) has completed its review of the proposed takeover of Genworth by a Chinese financial holding group and concluded that there are no unresolved national security concerns with respect to the proposed transaction. This satisfies one of the conditions to the closing of the proposed transaction.
Just seven months ago, when Anthem Inc. announced plans to set up a pharmacy unit to help it save billions of dollars a year on prescription drugs, the health insurer confidently predicted a smooth rollout. On May 8, IngenioRx’s top executive, Brian Griffin, quit with no warning to become CEO of _ Michigan- based Diplomat Pharmacy. His resignation came less than two…
And now California, home to one of the lowest rates of people without health insurance in the nation, is seeking to take that rate to zero. A slate of legislation from California’s State Assembly- 14 bills in total- seek to provide coverage to the 1 in 14 Californians currently uninsured. In California’s case, the benefits of the bills making their way through…
Democrats left little doubt that heath care will be their signature issue in the mid-term contests, betting the GOP’s decision to weaken the Affordable Care Act as part of its tax overhaul will give them a winning platform to run on while vulnerable senators are tethered to Capitol Hill this August.
June 07– Washington health insurers have filed requests to raise individual market premiums an average of 19 percent for 2019, with substantial variation among insurers. The largest request was an average 29.8 percent premium increase from Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of Washington, which currently insures 101,226 people on the individual market in 19…
June 07– Minnetonka- based UnitedHealth Group is part of a $2.2 billion deal to acquire a controlling interest in a physician-staffing company based in Washington state, according to a rating agency’s report issued Wednesday. On Wednesday, Moody’s Investors Service issued a report assigning a rating on debt related to the deal and identified the acquiring…
June 05– Individual insurance premiums for plans sold on the Affordable Care Act’s marketplace are going up by an average of 4.9 percent in Pennsylvania next year, according to the state Insurance Department. It also cited President Donald Trump’s decision last year to eliminate federal funding for added benefits that had been included in plans for the…
Six states — Iowa, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey and Washington state — have active legislation to establish a Medicaid buy-in program. In four others, bills were proposed but stalled.
Total reimbursements under Medicare’s drug benefit increased 77 percent, from $58 billion to $102 billion, even as prescriptions dropped by 17 percent from 2011 to 2015, the Health and Human Services Department’s inspector general said. The investigation comes as Republicans and Democrats on Capitol Hill have questioned pricing decisions by major…
They have started families and are raising their children while also caring for their aging parents. They’re the Sandwich Generation “sandwiched” into a lifestyle where two groups of loved ones are depending on them, and let’s not forget the need for self-care in order to maintain a healthy life balance. The problem arises when your income exceeds these limits…
At the annual meeting of shareholders today, Unum Group President and CEO Richard P. McKenney addressed the company’ s strong performance, customer focus, and the growing need for the financial protection Unum provides. In 2017, Unum had record revenues of $11.3 billion and paid nearly $7 billion in benefits. Also at today’ s meeting, among other voting items, Unum…
The Center on Budget& Policy Priorities issued the following news release:. Hospitals’ and other providers’ uncompensated care costs have fallen significantly since the implementation of the Affordable Care Act’s major coverage provisions. But approved and proposed Medicaid waivers that would take Medicaid away from people not working or engaged in work…
NYC Health+ Hospitals is pursuing arbitration to recover $11.5 million in wrongfully denied bills submitted to United Healthcare, the public health system announced today. Covering July 1, 2014, to December 31, 2017, the bills reflect care provided to United Healthcare beneficiaries in the inpatient settings of NYC Health+ Hospitals. “For too long, NYC Health+…
Anthem, Inc. today announced that the company has entered into an agreement to acquire Aspire Health, the nation’ s largest non-hospice, community-based palliative care provider. With the addition of Aspire Health to Anthem’ s other clinical care assets such as CareMore Health and AIM, we will be able to offer our consumers, customers, and other health plan and…
Americans kept up their health insurance last year despite President Donald Trump’s all-out push to dismantle the Affordable Care Act’s expansion of coverage. That’s the counterintuitive conclusion from a major government survey.
New Jersey will manage the health insurance exchange under the Affordable Care Act during the 2019 health insurance enrollment period.
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Vermont, the state’ s biggest insurer, wants an average 5.3 percent hike for plans offered to individuals, families and small businesses. The state’ s other insurer, MVP Health Care, is asking for an average 6.4 percent increase for those same types of plans. Blue Cross and Blue Shield’ s hearing is scheduled for 9 a.m. on July 23 in Room 11 of…
COLUMBUS, Ga. – May 17, 2018 – Aflac, the leader in voluntary insurance sales at the worksite in the United…
House Republican leaders declared victory in a long-running dispute with the executive branch, noting a new settlement preserves a judge’s ruling that President Barack Obama reimbursed insurers unlawfully under the Affordable Care Act.
Seven states announced a nationwide investigation last summer into major opioid manufacturers and distributors.
Department of Health and Human Services’ Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services issued the following news release:. Today, the Centers for Medicare& Medicaid Services released a redesigned version of the Drug Spending Dashboards. “Under President Trump’s bold leadership, CMS is committed to putting patients first and increasing transparency,” said CMS…
May 15– Medica’s status as the last health plan selling coverage on government-run insurance exchanges for Iowa and Nebraska helped the insurer double its individual market enrollment for 2018.. In the market where self-employed people under age 65 buy coverage, Medica saw enrollment grow to 196,479 people as of March across Minnesota and five other states…
The drop is greatest in states like Alabama that never expanded Medicaid as part of the ACA– a drop some area hospital and clinic operators say they’ve seen this year. “It’s been going on at least a year,” said Wayne Rowe, CEO of Quality of Life Health Services, which manages health clinics that provide primary care to the poor in Calhoun and 12 other counties.
Eighty seven percent of workers whose employer enables them to manage life in and outside of work are more loyal and satisfied, according to a MetLife survey that found workers want to be treated like whole people.
“The fact that the number of diagnoses has gone up is important because now we are looking for it, we are screening for it, and people are getting treatment to help them,” said Ginny Calega, vice president for medical management and policy at Independence Blue Cross, Southeastern Pennsylvania’s largest health insurance organization. “The increase in depression…
As workers struggle with ever-increasing deductibles and co-pays for hospitalization, employers can help with a benefit that steps in if an employee needs it. The Unum plan would offer 10 levels of fixed cash benefits ranging between $500 and $5,000 per person per calendar year.
Health insurers must guide consumers to the most cost-effective health measures and medical treatments as seamlessly as Amazon Prime serves up suggestions for bedspreads to match the sheets you just bought.
Although the GOP repeal-and-replace mantra seems to have quieted, some Republican lawmakers continue efforts to get around the sweeping federal health law’s requirements. It calls for $65 million in loans and grants administered by the Department of Agriculture to help organizations establish agricultural-related policies modeled on “association…
Senate Health Committee Chairman Lamar Alexander said legislative efforts to stabilize the markets this year are dead and that it’s up to states and the Trump administration to provide relief from rising insurance rates.
Maryland health insurers on Monday requested rate hikes on Obamacare plans averaging 30 percent, signaling consumers could be in for another round of sticker shock next year. CareFirst Blue Cross Blue Shield is seeking a 18.5 percent increase on the HMO plan that covers the lion’s share of its members, and a whopping 91 percent increase for one of its PPO plans.
While Congress remains gridlocked on health-care reforms — particularly regarding drug prices — states are increasingly taking matters into their own hands.
One July evening a few years ago, Carol Harnett was in a crosswalk in downtown Portland, Ore., when a driver made an illegal turn and hit her. Transported by ambulance to a hospital, Harnett, who is president of the nonprofit Council for Disability Awareness, was diagnosed with a severely sprained right ankle and left wrist, as well as a concussion.
