Health Insurance news from FierceHealthFinance
News
Blues report shaky financials for 2008
It seems 2008 wasn't a great year for BlueCross BlueShield affiliated health plans, according to a new report based on data from state regulators. The non-profit Blue plans saw average overall profit... Read more...
Half-measures won't work for healthcare cost controls
If recent reports are to be believed, Maryland hospitals have achieved something of a financial miracle. Leaders there report that rate-setting by the state has actually helped hospitals achieve a... Read more...
Health plans and reform: How will they be affected?
This week, a reader wrote to me to ask what changes I thought health plans would have to undergo to make it in a post-health reform world. Below is the response I offered. I thought I'd share it with... Read more...
Congressional Dems filing bill requiring coverage of pre-existing conditions
Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) and Rep. Joe Courtney (D-CT) plan to file a bill that would require health plans to cover the more than 133 million Americans suffering from chronic conditions such as... Read more...
Community clinics cutting services to undocumented immigrants
With the economy continuing to languish, community health clinics are beginning to look at cutting services to undocumented immigrants as a means of staying afloat financially. According to the Pew... Read more...
Medical-loss ratio requirements a bad idea
Now, don't get me wrong, I'm actually very sympathetic to legislators who are considering rules that would require managed care companies to spend a minimum of premium dollars on care rather than... Read more...
NJ Blue change to for-profit could prompt wave of followers
Right now, executives with Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey are nervously waiting to find out whether the state attorney general and insurance commissioner will let it convert itself from... Read more...
Trend: Hospitals deporting uninsured immigrants
When an American citizen with health insurance--either commercial or government-backed--is seriously injured or sick, hospitals receive meaningful reimbursement for their care, even if they don't get... Read more...
