12/25/2008 News For: Colorado Health care PlansMassachusetts Health Officials Approve Guidelines For Subsidized Health Plans That Are Intended To Drive Down Costs The Massachusetts Health Insurance Connector Authority Board on Saturday approved guidelines for contracts with managed care companies that include incentives for cutting costs and patient-protection provisions, the Boston Globe reports. The guidelines will apply to state-subsidized Commonwealth Care health plans, which cover 162,000 residents whose incomes are too high to qualify for Medicaid. Howard medical practice halts 'retainer' care plans Charter Internal Medicine, a 9,000-patient primary care medical office in Howard County, has announced that it is reversing plans to cease accepting health insurance and switch to a retainer-style practice next month after state regulators expressed concern over whether such operations should be classified as insurance carriers. In October, the five-physician practice informed patients of the ... Gerald McEntee: Health Care Reform Needs a Public Option If we fail to insist on a public health insurance option as part of any health care reform legislation enacted in Congress, we won't have the kind of change that America voted for in November. Newspapers Examine Health Care Issues Prompted By Current Economic Recession Two newspapers recently published articles that examined the health care issues faced by many individuals as a result of the current economic recession. Summaries appear below.Raleigh News & Observer: The News & Observer on Monday examined the problems with medical costs that many individuals face amid the current economic recession. Pennsylvania gov's top health care aide to leave HARRISBURG ? The director of Gov. Ed Rendell's efforts to expand health insurance to low-income children and adults, help doctors pay their malpractice bills and modernize Pennsylvania's health care system is stepping down. Pa. gov's top health care aide to leave HARRISBURG ? The director of Gov. Ed Rendell's efforts to expand health insurance to low-income children and adults and modernize Pennsylvania's health care system is stepping down. SCAN Arizona Takes Leading Role in Formation of the New Arizona Association of Health Plans SCAN Health Plan Arizona has joined with six other Arizona health insurers to form the Arizona Association of Health Plans, Inc. The association will work to ensure that health care in Arizona remains affordable, accessible and available. Students may be required to have health plans Students at state colleges and universities could be required to have medical-insurance coverage under a proposal endorsed by a special task force on health-care reform. Health Care Flashpoints Whither the public plan option? Over the next few years, health reform will succeed or fail based on a few major flashpoints that will shape any new program, including the financing of health insurance and the access to medical care itself. A Less Healthy Health Insurance Sector The U.S. economy is in a recession, and the health insurance industry has not proved immune to what ails the nation. With joblessness on the rise, volatile financial markets, and consumer income either flat or falling by most measures, Standard & Poor's Ratings Services on Nov. 3 revised the outlook on the managed care industry to negative from stable. The impact of the deteriorating economy, ... |




