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Prosecutors are seeking documents from Anthem, Aetna, Cigna, Blue Shield, Kaiser, Health Net and PacifiCare in a probe of whether they raised rates illegally and denied payment of legitimate claims.

February 25, 2010|By Duke Helfand and Marc Lifsher

Reporting from Sacramento and Los Angeles — The California state attorney general’s office said Thursday that it had subpoenaed financial records of California’s seven largest health insurance companies as part of an investigation into whether they illegally raised customer premiums and denied payment of legitimate claims. Read more

By AVERY JOHNSON

A battle over who to blame for rising health-care costs is escalating, as groups seek to pin the problem on each other and say none of the health-care legislation under consideration does enough to solve it.

U.S. spending on health care reached $2.5 trillion in 2009, according to federal estimates. It is expected to jump to $4.5 trillion in 10 years. Read more

Scaled-Down Plan Would Expand Insurance to About Half as Many People as Pending Bill Envisions

By LAURA MECKLER

President Barack Obama will use a bipartisan summit Thursday to push for sweeping health-care legislation, but if that fails to generate enough support the White House has prepared the outlines of a more modest plan. Read more

By ERICA WERNER and ALAN FRAM

The Associated Press

Wednesday, February 24, 2010; 9:24 PM

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama and congressional Democrats, holding out little hope for Thursday’s televised bipartisan summit on health care, are prepared to try for a far-reaching bill in the coming weeks without a single Republican vote. Read more

By AVERY JOHNSON

Insurers faced harsh criticism Wednesday during a congressional hearing on steep premium increases by a Wellpoint Inc. unit in California.

Rep. Henry Waxman (D., Calif.), chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, pointed to internal company documents he said demonstrated that profit influenced the decision by WellPoint’s Anthem Blue Cross unit to raise prices on individual insurance plans by as much as 39%. Read more

SIIA Submits Comments for White House’s Health Summit

In preparation of tomorrow’s health summit to be hosted by the White House, SIIA submitted comments detailing our industry’s main concerns with the current proposals as well as highlighting our reform recommendations. Read more

Feb 24, 2010

The Center for Public Integrity’s new “analysis of Senate lobbying disclosure forms shows that more than 1,750 companies and organizations hired about 4,525 lobbyists — eight for each member of Congress — to influence health reform bills in 2009.” The AARP, a retirees’ advocacy group which is among the most active organizations in Congress, mustered 58 lobbyists to health overhaul issues. The Chamber of Commerce used 47. Read more

Thursday’s health care summit is only the latest episode in a long-running Washington drama.

In fact, it was a year ago Wednesday that President Obama cited health care as one of his top goals during a speech to a joint session of Congress. Since then, the president has come to the brink of an unprecedented national health care plan — and now sees the entire enterprise at risk because of a single election in Massachusetts. Read more

Washington. The state’s domestic partnership law went into effect on Dec. 3, 2009, and has some implications for employers in the state. The law provides that for all purposes, registered domestic partners must be treated the same as married spouses. This means that employment-related benefits must be extended to the registered domestic partner of employees on the same basis as spouses. For more information, visit http://www.sos.wa.gov/corps/domesticpartnerships/Default.aspx.

Utah. The state has proposed legislation that would establish a state risk adjuster board to ensure consumer health risks are spread evenly among private insurers as they increase access to health insurance for 350,000 uninsured Utah residents. The bill, HB294, also would permit businesses in Utah with more than 50 employees to be part of the Web-based exchange for medical insurance and information. For more information, visit http://le.utah.gov/~2009/htmdoc/hbillhtm/HB0294.htm.

Pennsylvania. Premiums for the state’s adultBasic health insurance plan will double in March from $330 per month to $600 per month. In addition, more than 40,000 participants will face new higher out-of-pocket costs, with higher copayments for doctor and emergency room visits and more expensive coinsurance requirements for services including chemotherapy, dialysis, and outpatient surgery. The Pennsylvania Insurance Department cited higher medical service use and escalating health care costs, combined with limited state funding, as the reason for the coverage changes. For more information, visit http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/health_insurance/9189/adultbasic_benefit_chanages/646477.

Minnesota. Starting March 1, the state is going to charge counties extra to cover the cost of health care for their neediest residents. Previously, a $400 million General Assistance Medical Care program was available to help provide coverage for the poorest in the state, but the program is ending in an attempt to balance the budget. State legislators have proposed funding the program through surcharges on hospitals and health groups to draw down federal dollars and would levy a 10% match by counties to share the program’s cost. For more information, visit http://www.health.state.mn.us/.

Maryland. A bill pending in the state would allow young adults to continue enrollment in their parents’ health care plan until age 30. Current law allows dependent individuals to remain on a parent’s plan until they attain age 25. By expanding this to age 30, graduate students, veterans returning to school, and young adults who have been laid off and are seeking employment would be helped. Similar laws exist in New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania. For more information, visit http://www.mdinsurance.state.md.us/sa/jsp/Mia.jsp.

Illinois. The Illinois Supreme Court has struck down a medical malpractice law enacted in 2005 that limited monetary damages for pain and suffering to $1 million from hospitals and $500,000 from doctors. The court said the law violates the state’s separation-of-powers clause between the branches of government by allowing lawmakers to interfere with a jury’s right to determine damages. According to the American Medical Association, courts in 16 states have upheld these types of laws, while those in 11 states have overturned them. For more information, visit http://www.state.il.us/court/.