Tag: Health Insurance Reform
First Looks at the Delaware Health Insurance Exchange
Under the ACA, each state is supposed to create and manage a medical insurance marketplace where people who aren’t covered by insurance can buy plans. Delaware’s Health Insurance Marketplace website went live this AM — although the details of the exchange and the insurance options on offer are not yet available. I’m mildly surprised that California and NY got theirs up earlier — I had thought at one time that Delaware was pretty far ahead of the planning curve for planning and implementing this. Which is probably a misconception on my part.
The End of For Profit Insurance Companies
So claims the CEO, Chairman and President of Aetna Insurance, Mark Bertolini. He was speaking at a health-related conference in Las Vegas, and told his audience:
In Which We Find Karen Weldin Stewart Abandoning Delaware Consumers Again
Back in June, we discussed the actions of KWS to apply for waivers from the medical cost ratio rule for two insurance companies so that they can continue to pay commissions to brokers and sales agents. Since then, HHS has finalized its rule that requires that the costs to pay premiums or other support to brokers and sales agents be categorized as Administrative Costs and therefore included to the maximum 20% overhead allowed by the ACA. Delaware’s own Insurance Commissioner voted in a recent NAICS action to vote on a resolution that recommends that Congress exempt the fees insurance agents and brokers from medical loss ratio calculations (pdf) and that HHS revive their rulemaking to exclude brokers and agents from the the administrative costs of insurance companies.
Tom Carper Trying to Help Kill Public Option Effort in the Senate
According to this article in The Hill, Dick Durbin is thinking that the entire caucus needs to come to grips with the idea of voting down any amendments to the HCR reconciliation fix, even the Public Option. And here is Tom Carper — working on his centrist cred, no doubt — egging this on:
Jacob Hacker Endorses Medicare Buy-in
Even though apparently Joe Lieberman and Ben Nelson are now bad-mouthing a deal they helped to make, Jacob Hacker was in the news last week endorsing the Medicare Buy-In. Hacker being pretty much the Godfather of the Public Option. The complete interview on this (including others) is here on the PBS website, but this piece from Hacker is important:
Tom Carper Never Lets Go the Rightwing Talking Points
Call this post reason #578,091 why Senator Tom Carper is not a progressive. As if a proud member of the DLC could be. Senator Carper tells WHYY:
Tom Carper’s Chief of Staff Now Lobbies for Wellpoint
You read that right — the nation’s largest insurer has hired Tom Carper’s ex-Chief of Staff as a lobbyist to campaign for their interests on the health care bill:
New Commercial Targets Castle on Health Care Vote
This excellent commercial is from the SEIU in conjunction with the Foundation for Patients’ Rights, and started broadcasting in Delaware markets last night:
The Castle Amendment – Bend Over!
Here is the amendment Mike Castle added to the GOP “Die Quickly” Health Insurance Bill. ‘‘In applying subparagraph (B), a group health plan (or a health insurance issuer with respect to health insurance coverage) may vary premiums and cost sharing by up to 50 percent of the value of the benefits under the plan (or […]
Here It Is! The Republican Heath Care Plan!
Well, at first it was an outline. Then John Boehner got really mad after it was released and people made fun of him again with the outlines. So now they’ve finished their homework (pdf), now take a good look at Boehnercare: No national exchange No mandates for employers or for individuals Insurance companies still get […]
Breaking: Carper On Board With Public Option!?
It’s the current lead story on Talking Points Memo: Guess he’s been getting the messages left at his office. He still sounds a little weaselly about it, and decidedly unenthused, but it doesn’t sound like he’ll be off the reservation.
An Interesting Thought On The Practices Of Health Insurance Companies
Bob Cesca: “If the airlines were randomly dropping passengers out of airplanes at 30,000 feet, the airlines would be investigated, shut down or nationalized.” And, yet, isn’t this pretty much what health insurance companies are doing? Dropping people.
Attempted Murder Or Just Business As Usual?
Love, love, love the fact that people against the public option worry so much about rationing, but not so much about stories like these: Via HuffPo: Rather than continue to pay for Ian Pearl’s million dollar medical treatments, one insurance company has decided to end certain lines of coverage altogether, reports William Ehart of the […]
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