A bevy of ideas on how to expand health insurance to millions of Americans has grabbed headlines over the past six months, like a public option, new regional cooperatives and expanding Medicare to people 55 and older.
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For the 25,000 low-income Hoosiers on a waiting list for Indiana's health insurance program, there might be some good news in the next few weeks. Indiana has about 4,000 slots opening up in its popular Healthy Indiana Plan.
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Major employers are struggling to bend the cost curve on healthcare expenditures, and increasingly turning to cost-shifting and prevention/wellness programs to keep their workers' medical costs from spiraling out of control.
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Elliot Health System President and CEO Doug Dean doesn't tell a happy story about his hospital's foray into the world of managed care some 15 years ago.
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As members of Congress roll up their sleeves to complete the huge task of reforming the healthcare system, there's little confidence that the final package will contain a permanent fix to Medicare's formula that sets payments for physicians.
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Answering questions during a webcast earlier this month, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius sought to clear up some confusion about how the Obama administration is proposing to reform healthcare. Would consumers continue to have health insurance choices under the proposed system? “No one will be forced into any plan,” Sebelius responded. “A new health insurance exchange will have consumers choosing options.”
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At a nationally televised town hall meeting on healthcare reform last month, President Barack Obama was asked whether he would pay out-of-pocket for care if a close family member was extremely ill and the treatment was not covered by insurance.
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Galichia Heart Hospital in Wichita, Kan., recently decided that it could break into a market monopolized by overseas hospitals—and offer high-quality, more-convenient care to patients. In conducting research of medical tourism options in other countries, “we visited hospitals in Singapore, India and the Philippines—the biggest areas drawing Americans,” says Steve Harris, the 85-bed hospital’s CEO.
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The longstanding practice of gender rating by health insurers—charging women higher rates than men for the same plan—is getting fresh scrutiny as lawmakers work to reshape the health insurance system.
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Listening to health insurers and employers lately, COBRA starts to sound like a fitting name for the federal program that allows laid-off workers to extend their employer-sponsored health benefits. Like the eponymous snake, the COBRA program is lying in wait, ready to strike at profit margins, some health plans are warning.
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