health plans news from FierceHealthFinance
News
Survey: One-third of doctors don't accept credit cards
A new survey suggests that one of the key components in making high-deductible plans work--the ability to collect those deductibles easily--isn't in place for many medical practices. The survey, by... Read more...
Health plans challenged by adverse selection fears
Given the economic conditions out there, health plans actually aren't doing too badly. But that hasn't been too impressive for Wall Street, which has kept a beady eye on an even more critical number... Read more...
Health plans work to change their image
For almost as long as they've existed, health plans have had something of an adversarial role in the healthcare system. In particular, they've gone head-to-head with providers and employers, both of... Read more...
Health Net considers selloff of assets, stock
Stung by a financially-bruising 2008, Health Net is considering a sale of some of its business in Arizona and the Northeast, according to the company's CEO and president Jay Gellert. The two regions,... Read more...
UnitedHealth settles SEC charges, no fines involved
Following on the heels of an $895 million class-action suit settlement over stock-option back-dating, UnitedHealth Group has now agreed to settle charges that it violated a myriad of securities laws,... Read more...
Trend: Insurers, banks creating more HSAs as industry grows
The money coming from the "health/wealth" market is expected to increase over the coming years: Some experts predict the market could reach $40 billion in the next five years. That's not surprising,... Read more...
Massachusetts hospitals rate state health plans
Massachusetts hospitals have become the latest industry group to turn the tables on health plans and rate their performance systematically. The Massachusetts Hospital Association has released a... Read more...
PPO growth means rise in self-pay debt
New research suggests that state and local governments are increasingly shifting from HMO model health plans to PPO models, with plans that require employees to pay more of the tab. Analysts with the... 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...
Johns Hopkins demands $2M from MD health plan
Making an emphatic move in a disagreement that has simmered for more than five years, Johns Hopkins Healthcare has sued regional Blue plan CareFirst of Maryland for $2 million, claiming that it owes... Read more...
