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Employees pass up health insurance benefits as costs rise
The rising cost of health insurance is pushing more South Florida employees to consider what had been unthinkable: Passing up medical coverage offered at work. A strata of young, physically fit workers have always skipped employer health benefits they view as an unnecessary cost. But insurance agents say a …
Sicker US Adults Have More Financial Problems Than In Other Countries
Chronically and seriously ill American adults have the highest rate of difficulties in paying their medical bills and doing without medical care because of cost, compared to their counterparts in the UK, Canada, Australia, France, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and Germany, a Commonwealth Fund International Survey reported today…
Feds give Georgia insurers more time to comply with health care law
About 350,000 Georgians who buy their own health insurance may not have to worry about their insurer leaving the state, under an Obama administration decision Tuesday. But they will have to wait until 2013 to get the full benefit of a new rule designed to give consumers more value from …
Ohio voters reject health insurance mandate
Voters in Ohio approved a measure Tuesday night disapproving of President Obama’s healthcare law. Ohioans passed an amendment to the state constitution that says Ohio residents cannot be forced to buy health insurance. The amendment, however, will likely do very little to prevent Ohio residents from being forced to …
Lawyer Opposing Health Law Is Familiar Face to the Justices
WASHINGTON — It would be hard for any lawyer to fathom a more riveting caseload than the one Paul D. Clement carried during his seven years in President George W. Bush’s Justice Department. As solicitor general for three years and deputy solicitor for four, Mr. Clement appeared before the …
Firms to charge smokers, obese more for healthcare
(Reuters) - Like a lot of companies, Veridian Credit Union wants its employees to be healthier. In January, the Waterloo, Iowa-company rolled out a wellness program and voluntary screenings. It also gave workers a mandate - quit smoking, curb obesity, or you’ll be paying higher healthcare costs in 2013. …
7 More Insurers End Objections on Rate Filings
In a competitive stampede toward transparency in health insurance premiums, seven more large carriers have dropped their objections to the public disclosure of their filings with New York State in support of rate increases. The seven followed UnitedHealth/Oxford, which this week was the first to formally end a fight …
Out-of-pocket Medicare costs rise 2.1%
WASHINGTON—Medicare beneficiaries will face out-of-pocket expenses that are 2.1% higher next year, the Department of Health and Human Services announced last week. Next year, the deductible for the first 60 days of a hospital stay will rise to $1,156, which is up from $1,132 this year. In addition, …
Wal-Mart offers latest sign that employer-based health coverage is failing
When Wal-Mart, the country’s largest private employer, announced the other day that it’s cutting back on health coverage for workers, it wasn’t just the latest sign that our healthcare system is out of reach for a growing number of people. It was also the clearest indication to date that …
NY health firm agrees to disclose data on rates
ALBANY, N.Y. — New York’s largest health insurance company agreed Tuesday to publicly disclose more data used to justify premium increases. The agreement with UnitedHealth Group is part of a statewide effort by state Financial Services Superintendent Benjamin Lawsky to make rate increase filings public for review by policy …