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Jack L.B. Gohn: Contraception, an unrepresentative church, and unresponsive courts
At this writing we still don’t have an outcome, either regulatory or political, in the fight between the President and the bishops over the proposed mandate that employers, including Catholic hospitals and universities, offer their employees health insurance plans with birth control coverage. But it is clear that the rhetorical battle line du jour is […]
Lt. Gov. Brown asks lawmakers to approve insurance law bill
ANNAPOLIS — Maryland Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown says the legislature needs approve a bill that continues to set up guidelines for a government-developed health insurance market. Brown testified Wednesday before the state Senate committee on a bill that expands laws passed last year to create a federally mandated insurance exchange. He said the marketplace, which […]
Feds award health overhaul grants to 10 states
WASHINGTON — Federal officials say another 10 states are getting a total of $230 million to set up new health insurance markets under President Barack Obama’s overhaul. Seven of them — Colorado, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania — have either adopted a plan or are making substantial headway. But a recent […]
Hagerstown free clinic aims to take new patients
HAGERTOWN — The Community Free Clinic in Hagerstown says it hopes to start accepting new patients by early March. The clinic stopped seeing new patients in late October due to a funding shortfall. The executive director told The Herald-Mail of Hagerstown newspaper Sunday that a fund drive, combined with cost-cutting measures, may make it possible […]
Preventive care: It’s free, except when it’s not
CHICAGO — Bill Dunphy thought his colonoscopy would be free. His insurance company told him it would be covered 100 percent, with no copayment from him and no charge against his deductible. The nation’s 1-year-old health law requires most insurance plans to cover all costs for preventive care including colon cancer screening. So Dunphy had […]
Insurer Highmark selling Medicare services
PITTSBURGH — Health insurer Highmark Inc. says it is selling a Medicare services subsidiary to a Florida firm. The Pittsburgh-based company announced on Thursday the sale of Diversified Service Options of Jacksonville, Fla. Details of the deal were not disclosed in a joint news release from the two companies. The sale is expected to close […]
Higher copays seen for Medicare brand-name drugs
WASHINGTON — With three weeks left for seniors to change their Medicare prescription plan for 2012, a study released Wednesday finds that copays for brand-name drugs are going up — sharply in some cases. Copays for preferred brand-name drugs will increase by 40 percent on average next year, and non-preferred brands will average nearly 30 […]
Insurer Cigna to buy HealthSpring for $3.8B
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Cigna Corp. will buy fellow health insurer HealthSpring Inc. in a $3.8 billion deal as it becomes the latest managed-care company to snap up a bigger share of the fast-growing Medicare Advantage market. Cigna, based in Bloomfield, Conn., also said Monday it raised its earnings expectations for 2011 and moved up its […]
Feds to design health insurance for the masses
WASHINGTON — The federal government is taking on a crucial new role in the nation’s health care, designing a basic benefits package for millions of privately insured Americans. A framework for the Obama administration was released Thursday. The report by independent experts from the Institute of Medicine lays out guidelines for deciding what to include […]
Business group files high court health care appeal
WASHINGTON — A small-business group opposed to the health care overhaul is asking the Supreme Court to strike down the entire law, not just the core requirement to buy health insurance or pay a penalty. The National Federation of Independent Business filed an appeal Wednesday of a portion of the ruling by the federal appeals […]
Survey: Health insurance costs surge in 2011
INDIANAPOLIS — The cost of employer-sponsored health insurance surged this year, snapping a trend toward moderate growth, but experts say these increases may slow again in 2012. Annual premiums for family coverage climbed 9 percent and surpassed $15,000 for the first time, according to a report released Tuesday by the Kaiser Family Foundation and the […]
Census: U.S. poverty rate swells to nearly 1 in 6
WASHINGTON — The ranks of America’s poor swelled to almost 1 in 6 people last year, reaching a new high as long-term unemployment left millions of Americans struggling and out of work. The number of uninsured edged up to 49.9 million, the biggest in more than two decades. The Census Bureau’s annual report released Tuesday […]
