Posts Tagged ‘health insurance’
Some Greet Canceled Health Plans With Smiles
Canceled health plans have sparked a political firestorm as people realized President Obama's promise — "If you like your plan, you can keep it" — didn't apply to everyone. Some Californians are finding that having their plans canceled allows them to sign up for better coverage. Starting Jan. 1, the federal health law will prohibit [...]
Health Coverage Costs Less in LA than SF
Today, I'll answer questions from readers about why health insurance premiums are so much higher in Northern than Southern California and donating money to charity from an individual retirement account. But first this news: Covered California, the state's health care exchange, will shut down temporarily starting at 8 p.m. Saturday to bring a [...]
States See No Rush to Buy Health Insurance Next Week
Next Tuesday marks the first time uninsured people can buy health insurance using new online marketplaces under the health-care law, but state officials don’t expect many buyers next week. “We really anticipate very few people going through the enrollment process in October,” said Peter Lee, executive director of Covered California, the [...]
Why Medical Bills are Killing Us
Why are we paying so much for healthcare? Why do we spend nearly 20% of our gross domestic product on health care, twice as much as most other developed countries, which get the same or better health outcomes? When Sean Recchi was told last March that he had non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, his wife Stephanie knew she had to get him to MD Anderson [...]
Kaiser Tops State Health Insurance Market with 40% Share
Nonprofit healthcare giant Kaiser Permanente had a 40% share of California's $59-billion health insurance market for employers and individuals, new data show. A report issued this week by Citigroup analyst Carl McDonald compiled nationwide data on 2011 premiums and enrollment among large and small employers and individuals buying their own [...]
State Insurance Commissioner Says Affordable Care Act is Good Medicine.
Californians pay about $500 apiece in extra health insurance premiums to cover the uninsured who get more expensive care through hospital emergency rooms. Each family is pays approximately $1,400 per year extra. Medical providers shift a substantial portion of those uncompensated costs to health insurers in the form of higher reimbursement [...]
Health Reform: A Special Report
Subscribe to Insurance Insider News by Leila Morris • How Will Health Reform Affect Brokers in California? • How Will the Medical Loss Ratio Requirement Affect Commissions? • Will Employers Stop Offering Health Benefits? • When Will The Healthcare Exchanges Start Signing People Up? • How Will the Election Affect Health [...]
Regulators Eye a Maneuver Meant to Cut Health-Care Costs
Federal regulators are now scrutinizing whether small companies with relatively healthy employees will pull out of the group health insurance market by self-insuring. That could make premiums for traditional health insurance plans unaffordable for the businesses that remain. That’s why the health-reform law has mandates for both individuals [...]
Obamacare in California, What’s At Stake?
By some estimates, California could have billions at stake in the debate over Obamacare, with the state possibly receiving up to $44 billion in additional funds in enhanced payments for low-income children and adults for 2019. Without the state mandate, the number of people expected to buy health insurance offered by state exchanges will fall from [...]
Procedural Issues Could Hold Up the Supreme Court’s Decision
The Supreme Court held a rearing on Monday that focused on whether the health reform mandate should be considered a tax. If so, the court would not be able to hear challenges to the law until the penalties would be implemented in 2014, according to a report in NY1.com
