Archive for Month: April 2011
States Resisting Health Insurance Overhaul
ARIZONA: A bill that would require Arizona health insurance carriers to provide written claim reports to plan sponsors up to twice a year, upon request, has been favorably amended in the House to make compliance less onerous. Modeled after a Texas law enacted in 2007, the bill originally required the […]
Health Care Overhaul & Deficit Reductions
Just one week after House Republicans unveiled their deficit-reduction plan, President Obama last week unveiled his own plan for cutting $4 trillion from the federal budget deficit. The two plans propose much different routes to deficit reduction, and among the differences likely to draw the most attention in the upcoming […]
Health Insurance Reform State Changes April
Governor Jan Brewer has signed a state budget that includes $1.1 billion in spending cuts and the elimination of programs that Democratic legislators say will have a disproportionate impact on the poor and children of the state. The budget eliminates $385 million from the Arizona Health Insurance Cost Containment System […]
Health Care Reform Repeal Small Business 1099
While the possibility of a government shutdown grabbed most of the headlines last week, many analysts and media focused on particulars of the new House Republican budget plan unveiled by Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI). Reactions to the plan were widely split, but few would disagree that the plan would have […]
Texas Health Insurance Exchange
Rep. John Zerwas, the Republican legislator who has filed legislation to implement a key element of federal health care reform, said his bill may be permanently stuck. Zerwas proposed establishing a Texas health insurance exchange not because he approves of federal health reform but because he fears the federal government […]
Pennsylvania Health Insurance Individual Mandate
On March 23, Republican Congressman Joe Pitts, Chairman of the Health Subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, held a public hearing in Harrisburg to mark the one-year anniversary of PPACA. In testimony before the Committee, Governor Tom Corbett, who as Attorney General joined Pennsylvania in the multi-state suit […]
Oklahoma Health Insurance Exchange
Gov. Mary Fallin is defending her efforts to create an Oklahoma health insurance exchange for uninsured Oklahoma residents, explaining that if the state does not have an exchange in place by 2013 the federal government will step in and create its own. Fallin discussed her support for legislation to help […]
Ohio Health Insurance Transformation
Lt. Gov. Mary Taylor, who also serves as the Director of the Department of Insurance, has disbanded the Ohio Health insurance Care Coverage and Quality Council, saying the Department needs to focus on implementing federal health care reform. She noted, however, that two council subgroups, the Payment Reform Task Force […]
New Mexico Health Insurance Exchange
Governor Susana Martinez has two PPACA-related bills on her desk. The legislature passed an New Mexico health insurance exchange bill that would create a nonprofit public corporation with the ability to selectively contract with health plans. Throughout the legislative session, the governor expressed concerns about the direction the bill was […]
Nevada Health Insurance Exchange
Legislation to create the Silver State Nevada Health Insurance Exchange was introduced last week on the last day for bill introductions and has been referred to the Committee on Commerce, Labor, and Energy. No hearing has been scheduled. The bill contains the basic framework and governance structure for the health […]
Recent Comments