News For: Blue Care Vt VermontBlue Shield of California Awards $29.5 Million in Pay-for-Performance Programs in 2008 As part of its ongoing commitment to providing high quality affordable health care, Blue Shield of California announced today that it is awarding $29.5 million in performance bonuses to medical groups and IPAs in California. Nearly half of the payments are part of the Integrated Healthcare Association IHA pay-for-performance program, which rewards providers for the quality of their health ... Horizon Blue's Conversion to For-Profit Status May Alter Plan's Existing Pricing Strategy HealthLeaders-InterStudy, a leading provider of managed care market intelligence, reports that, if approved, conversion by Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey to for-profit status may prompt the plan to adopt a more conservative approach to pricing. AMA president urges broadened health care WASHINGTON -- The Buffalo physician who heads the American Medical Association came to the capital Tuesday to reignite the debate on universal health care at a time of great sickness in the American economy. Access to Care program requests county, city help with deficit Access to Care, a nonprofit program that helps uninsured adults with free medical care in Summit County, is running out of money. Rising health care costs hitting Iowans hard Health insurance premiums in Iowa rose nearly four times as fast as wages from 2000 to 2007, according to a new report.Affordability of health insurance is diminishing rapidly in Iowa, according to the data from Families USA, a national organization for health care consumers.Average family health insurance premiums both the employee and employer share climbed 72.6 percent, or $4,707, to ... Jacobson Solutions Teams With HOV Services to Create Holistic Solutions for Managed Care and Health Insurance ... Jacobson Solutions - Healthcare Resources, an interim support division of The Jacobson Group, announces its partnership with Troy, Michigan-based HOV Services to provide comprehensive human capital and business process/knowledge process solutions to managed care and health insurance organizations. Insurance Premiums A deadline is looming that will impact Anthem Blue Cross-Blue Shield patients getting care at Maine Coast Memorial Hospital in Ellsworth... The hospital's contract with Anthem ends next Tuesday. About 6,000 patients will be affected. As health-care premiums rise, workers at smaller firms feel pinch Premiums for job-based health insurance are up 5 percent in 2008 and have more than doubled since 1999, a growth rate that far outpaces inflation and the increase in workers' wages over the same period, according to an annual survey of employers. Meanwhile, a growing number of workers at smaller firms are getting less coverage for their money as health plans with high deductibles and fewer ... As health-care premiums rise, workers at smaller firms feel pinch Premiums for job-based health insurance are up 5 percent in 2008 and have more than doubled since 1999, a growth rate that far outpaces inflation and the increase in workers' wages over the same period, according to an annual survey of employers. Meanwhile, a growing number of workers at smaller firms are getting less coverage for their money as health plans with high deductibles and fewer ... Ike-battered Galveston lets residents return GALVESTON, Texas — Ten days after Hurricane Ike, this devastated beach town reopened to residents today with stern warnings about what still lurks on the island — rotting cattle carcasses, snakes and swarms of mosquitoes — and what isn't there: drinking water, reliable electricity, medical care or sewer service. |




