Author Archive
U.S. Moves to Cut Back Regulations on Hospitals
WASHINGTON — The Obama administration moved to roll back numerous rules that apply to hospitals and other health care providers after concluding that the standards were obsolete or overly burdensome to the industry. Kathleen Sebelius, the secretary of health and human services, said the proposed changes, which would apply …
US Scores 64 Out Of 100: Commonwealth Fund Commission National Health Care Scorecard
The U.S. health care system scored 64 out of 100 on key measures of performance, according to the third national scorecard report from the Commonwealth Fund Commission on a High Performance Health System, released today. The scorecard finds that - despite pockets of improvement - the U.S as a whole failed to improve when compared […]
Massachusetts Tries to Rein In Its Health Cost
BOSTON — On the Republican campaign trail, the health care debate has focused on the mandatory coverage that Mitt Romney signed into law as governor in 2006. But back in Massachusetts the conversation has moved on, and lawmakers are now confronting the problem that Mr. Romney left unaddressed: the state’s …
Administration Drops Americans’ Insurance For Long-term Care, Key Component Of Health Overhaul Law
Obama’s administration has eliminated one of the Affordable Care Act’s key new entitlement programs, saying that the Community Living Assistance Services (CLASS) Act which would have provided a basic lifetime benefit of a least $50 a day in the event of illness or disability, and was supposed to help reduce the federal budget by […]
Eating Disorders a New Front in Insurance Fight
People with eating disorders like anorexia have opened up a new battleground in the insurance wars, testing the boundaries of laws mandating equivalent coverage for mental illnesses. Through claims and court cases, those with severe cases of anorexia or bulimia are fighting insurers to pay for stays in residential …
Congress gives final approval to trade bill boosting health insurance premium subsidies
WASHINGTON—The House of Representatives has approved and sent to President Barack Obama trade legislation that includes a provision boosting federal health insurance premium subsidies for employees who lose their jobs due to foreign competition and older retirees in failed pension plans. The Health Coverage Tax Credit is part of …
Health reimbursement arrangements rule change gets support in San Francisco
SAN FRANCISCO—Lawmakers in San Francisco are moving to curb the appeal of a funding option employers can use to satisfy a law requiring that they spend a certain amount of money on employees’ health care coverage. Under the law, employers with 100 or more employees are required to spend …
Health Overhaul Is Dealt Setback
A U.S. appeals court in Atlanta handed the Obama administration its biggest defeat to date in the battle over the health-care overhaul passed last year, ruling the law’s mandate on Americans to carry health insurance was unconstitutional. The 2-1 ruling directly conflicts with another appellate ruling in June, making …
Panel Says U.S. Should Weigh Cost in Deciding ‘Essential Health Benefits’
WASHINGTON — The National Academy of Sciences said Thursday that the federal government should explicitly consider cost as a factor in deciding what health benefits must be provided by insurance plans under President Obama’s health care overhaul, and it said the cost of any new benefits should be “offset by …
Health Insurers Push Premiums Sharply Higher
Major health insurance companies have been charging sharply higher premiums this year, outstripping any growth in workers’ wages and creating more uncertainty for the Obama administration and employers who are struggling to drive down an unrelenting rise in medical costs. A study released on Tuesday by the Kaiser Family …