Archive for Month: May 2010

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Colorado Health Insurance Aetna

The General Assembly in Colorado health insurance recently adjourned a 2010 session that was focused heavily on health care issues. Outgoing Governor Bill Ritter succeeded in his goal of leaving a health care reform legacy with the passage of unisex rating in the individual market, a plain language requirement for […]

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Health Insurance Reform Update for May

As the comment period ended with respect to medical loss ratio (MLR) regulations, a flurry of letters were sent last week to both the National Association of Insurance Commissioners and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. In addition to Aetna health insurance and other insurers, several employer groups […]

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Health Insurance Overhaul Law Costs More

The new health insurance law will add at least $115 billion more to government health care spending over the next 10 years, according to the CBO. If all additional spending called for in the legislation is approved, it would push the cost of the overhaul above $1 trillion. The added […]

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Health Insurance Reform State High Risk Pools

In the new health insurance reform law the states are permitted to create their own high risk pools, expand existing pools, or allow the federal government to create and administer the pools for them. The following states will operate their own pools: Alaska, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, […]

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Wisconsin Health Insurance Transparency and Badger Care

The Governor has signed a Wisconsin health insurance transparency bill that requires a health care provider to specify charge information for diagnosing and treating 25 presenting conditions: the provider’s median billed charges; the reimbursement amount under Medical Assistance; the reimbursement amount under Medicare; and the average allowable payment from private, […]

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Pennsylvania Health Insurance News May

In Pennsylvania health insurance news, a mini-COBRA extension bill introduced by Representative Josh Shapiro would amend the law to extend the mini-COBRA benefit to laid-off employees of companies with fewer than 20 workers from 9 to 15 months. The bill was amended at the behest of the National Federation of […]

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Nevada Health Insurance No High Risk Pool

In Nevada health insurance, an April 29 letter to HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, Governor Jim Gibbons estimated that the $61 million his state would receive to implement a high-risk pool under the federal health care reform law would be grossly inadequate; serving roughly 2,900 of the 100,000 people who may […]

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Nebraska Health Insurance No High Risk Pool

In Nebraska health insurance, an April 27 letter, Governor Dave Heineman informed Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius that Nebraska has elected not to participate in the temporary federal high-risk pool created under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2009. In his letter, Governor Heineman cited […]

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Health Insurance Reform May Update

While the underlying cost of health insurance services remains an under-reported issue, there are signs that this may be changing. The California legislature, for example, is beginning to turn its attention to rising hospital and provider costs, and not just the rising cost of premiums. Just in time, the U.S. […]