WellPoint's primary care program gets warm reception from docs
Medicare Advantage poised for strong membership growth
Medicare Advantage enrollment might increase by as much as 50 percent in the next 10 years, according to the latest budget analysis.
AHIP funded small business's campaign against premium tax
America's Health Insurance Plans funded hundreds of thousands of dollars to a popular small-business trade association to help repeal the reform law's premium tax on insurers, the National Journal Daily reported.
States' exchange outreach, education budgets differ greatly
Insurers should keep a watchful eye on their states' financial expenditures, as this may be the best indicator of whether they will enroll large amounts of new consumers shopping on the health insurance exchanges.
Premiums drop, coverage expands in Washington's exchange
Despite predictions of rate shocks, most consumers in Washington state will actually see lower premiums and enhanced coverage when they buy insurance through the state's health insurance exchange.
No Medicaid expansion till 2015 for Pennsylvania, top official says
As Pennsylvania lawmakers consider whether to expand their Medicaid program under the reform law, a top state official said even if Gov. Tom Corbett approves, it would take until at least January 2015 to negotiate and implement the expansion.
State wants pre-existing condition plan left alone
Pennsylvania Insurance Commissioner Michael Consedine has asked the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services to leave in place the federal program for people with serious health problems, LifeHealthPro reported.
Utah gets approval for dual-model exchange
Utah is set to become the only state in the country with a dual-model health insurance exchange, which will be split into two parts that will be run separately by Utah and federal officials.
Did HHS solicit donations from insurers to help promote health law?
Republican lawmakers are trying to discern whether the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services has been requesting insurers donate money to help it promote the reform law and the health insurance exchanges, in particular.
Insurers will cover 2M fewer consumers thanks to reform
Insurers will be competing for fewer consumers when the health insurance exchanges and other provisions of the reform law are implemented, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
3 WellPoint board members resign for personal reasons
WellPoint has lost three board members, who all cited personal reasons for leaving the second-largest insurer in the country. The insurer says that the board members' decisions didn't result from any disputes with the company.
Study: Employer-based coverage will survive post-reform
A new report analyzing employer-sponsored health coverage in Massachusetts indicates businesses likely will continue offering health plans to their employees in a post-reform market.
Value-based payments gain traction among insurers
Based on interviews with 39 health insurers, 82 percent of respondents consider developing new payment models a "major priority" for their organizations.
Big insurers, watch out: The little guy is entering the exchange market
California keeps exchange contracts, records under lock and key
The California agency responsible for developing and running the health insurance exchange has been extremely secretive about its contracts and records, keeping information about hundreds of millions of dollars it has spent away from the public--and insurers selling plans on the exchange.
Do payers share enough data with ACO partners?
Providers are beginning to sound alarms that some payers aren't providing adequate or high-quality claims data, making that information unusable.
Kentucky becomes 21st state to expand Medicaid
Kentucky has become the latest state to announce it's expanding the Medicaid program under the health reform law.
Hospital group rebranding expands health plan offerings
Hudson Holdco, which has renamed itself CarePoint Health, is transforming itself from a small one-county hspital operator to a payer-provider organization operating throughout the state of New Jersey.
HHS allocates $150M to help promote exchanges
Insurers received welcome news on Thursday--the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services has earmarked $150 million to help community health centers promote and enroll consumers on health insurance exchanges.
HHS releases hospital price data
The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services for the first time has released data comparing average hospital charges for the 100 most common Medicare claims.
