Category: Health Insurance

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CHAMPAIGN — It will be at least until after Labor Day before the state of Illinois retirees learn more about a pending decision that’s causing anxiety for many.

With six weeks to go before open enrollment begins for health coverage for Medicare-eligible state retirees, few details are available about what coverage the state may be making available.

After undergoing a request for proposals process required every decade, the state chose an Aetna PPO for retirees in every county but is currently in the midst of an appeal filed by UnitedHealthcare — the insurer currently offering a statewide PPO plan to state retirees through the end of this year.

Cathy Kwiatkowski, spokeswoman at the Illinois Department of Central Management Services, responded to an inquiry about the time frame for a decision by saying after Labor Day would be a good time to check back.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — About 40,000 low-income adults living in the country illegally won’t lose their government-funded health insurance over the next year under a new policy announced Monday by California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration.

California already pays for the health care expenses of low-income adults 25 and younger, regardless of their immigration status. A new law scheduled to take effect in January 2024 would extend those benefits to cover all adults who, but for their immigration status, would qualify for the state’s Medicaid program.

But between now and when that new law takes effect in 2024, about 40,000 young adults who already have Medicaid in California are expected to lose their benefits because they are older than 25. Monday, the state Department of Health Care Services announced it would continue to cover those young adults through the end of 2023 to make sure they won’t lose their benefits.

“Providing

NEW YORK — Insurance company MetroPlus Health cut the ribbon on its new Harlem headquarters on Monday.

CBS2’s Jessi Mitchell got a first look at how the provider is expanding its offerings to the community.

The health plan “for New Yorkers, by New Yorkers” wants you to look at comprehensive coverage in a new light.

Dr. Glendon Henry has spent decades healing Harlem residents.

“We started here in 1985 at Metropolitan Hospital. We’ve been in Harlem forever. This will improve our footprint,” Henry said.

Beyond insurance, the new office will offer resources on preventive health care and nutrition, as well as help with immigration, legal and housing challenges.

“If you can’t move or don’t have someplace to live, health care is not what you first thought,” Henry said.

For years, the MetroPlus Health team set up a table inside a former tax office while roaming the neighborhood with its mobile

“It was such a lovely surprise to get a visit from two men armed with guns and batons in my own home,” she says in the video. “It’s nice to know that even though you won’t give me the healthcare I need, you still care.”

A brief glimpse of the Jan. 19 police report Honig shared in the video contained the words “poss 5150” (a police term used to describe placing someone in an involuntary psychiatric hold) and “conducted a wellness check,” as well as the phone number for the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health. The LAPD has not yet responded to a request for comment.

Anthem responded on Twitter by requesting an email from Honig so a representative could “look into this.” The company has not yet returned a request for comment from BuzzFeed News.

For a moment, it seemed like the public vomfest may have worked.

Maybe they’ll end up calling this Medicare Part E?

Americans aged 50 to 64 aren’t able to claim free, or nearly-free, health insurance courtesy of the US taxpayers. At least not yet.

But we may be edging in that direction.

More than 8 million Americans could be in line for a rebate from their health insurance provider.

The rebates come from a regulation that requires insurance companies that sell group or individual policies to meet a “medical loss ratio” to spend at least 80% of premiums on healthcare costs or expenses related to patient health. Large group plans are required to spend 85% on healthcare costs. If those figures are not met, enrollees are eligible to be reimbursed the difference.

The ratio is calculated on a rolling-three-year average so this year’s rebate comes from 2019, 2020 and 2021 data.

An analysis by the Kaiser Family Foundation showed 8.2 million Americans will be issued a total of about $1 billion in rebates, ranging from $78 for large plan enrollees to $155 a person for small plan enrollees.

The amount of the rebates can vary widely according on location and insurer. This

If you are in Colorado and you need treatment for, say, cancer, there are dozens of hospitals and clinics that can provide it for you. But those places are not equal.

Some charge dramatically more than others — sometimes twice as much — for the same service. Some have significantly higher quality ratings, as scored by independent firms.

This variability helps explain a quietly significant change in the health insurance plan covering some state employees that took effect last month — a change that shows how the Polis administration is pushing forward with its health care reform policies in ways that don’t always draw headlines.

For years, Gov. Jared Polis has been touting the potential benefits of a health insurance model for employers called a purchasing alliance and championing legislation that gives such arrangements a boost. In a purchasing alliance, employers seek to gain greater control over how much they

BUFFALO, NY (WIVB) — Many people will soon be dealing with big increases in their health insurance premiums.

The state approved rate hikes this week and in some cases people could see double digit increases.

University at Buffalo School of Management associate professor Charles Lindsey said these increases impact more than just healthcare.

“The National Bureau of Economic Research reported they’ve studied this and for every 10% increase in insurance premiums they find a 1.6% increase in the likelihood of someone being unemployed,” Lindsey said.

He said it also affects hours worked and that 2/3 of the increase comes out of an employee’s salary and 1/3 comes out of benefits.

Policy holders in Western New York are looking at a 12% increase for Highmark and more than 6% for Independent Health.

Lev Ginsburg from The Business Council said this is a result of inflation and even the pandemic.

“There are

Health Care Service Corporation, the parent of Blue Cross and Blue Shield health plans in five states, is buying Trustmark Health Benefits, an administrator and designer of employer health benefits, for an undisclosed amount.

The agreement between Health Care Service and Trustco Holdings to buy its wholly owned subsidiary, Trustmark Health Benefits, comes during a period of renewed merger and acquisition activity among health insurers to expand their businesses. In particular, Trustmark Health Benefits, is a “third-party administrator” that will add to Health Care Service’s “capabilities to serve self-funded employers,” the companies said Thursday in announcing the deal.

“The acquisition will provide HCSC with additional capabilities to serve a broader set

Oscar Health will not pursue additional full-service +Oscar agreements for the next 18 months after facing challenges implementing its deal with Health First Health Plans, CEO and co-founder Mario Schlosser said Thursday.

The insurtech had sought to secure up to two deals a year for its +Oscar information technology services, which aim to help other insurers and providers transition to risk-based payment models, manage medical spending and engage patients.

Oscar Health announced the Health First Health Plans partnership last year to provide the not-for-profit insurer’s Medicare Advantage and individual policyholders access to Oscar’s member engagement, provider and broker services. The technology deal was set to go live at the start of this year, but has run into “post-launch challenges due to the complexity of integrations at this scale,” Schlosser said during the second-quarter earnings call. He did not provide details.

“We’re in the middle of work supporting integration there, and