Category: Healthcare Reform
New preexisting-condition insurance plans, or “high-risk pools,” offer a lifeline to some, but strict eligibility rules and high cost shut others out.
Voters want health reform, they just don’t like the current version, says John Goodman. He says it’s possible to make health insurance portable, affordable and fair.
Opponents to the new health care reform law are making dramatic claims about its cost and effects. How valid are they?
“I’m sick and tired of the insurance industry pulling these stunts and misleading the public about health reform. I expect better of companies wanting to do business in Washington.” — Mike Kreidler
Federal judge in Florida rules that a legal challenge to the new health care law by officials from 20 states can move forward.
The nation’s four largest for-profit health insurers–Aetna, Humana, UnitedHealth Group, and WellPoint–denied coverage to more than 651,000, citing pre-existing conditions.
More than 70% of those polled said prescription birth control should be covered under preventive health care, including 72% of GOP women.
A guide for workers in open season on what could be changing or becoming more costly in their plans’ charges for premiums, deductibles, and dependent coverage.
“. . . ruling represents a major legal victory for the Justice Department since the decision rejects the central legal argument against the landmark health care reform bill.”
“It will take years to make the law’s most important changes. But by the time they are in place, if all goes well, most Americans truly will be better off.”
The Washington state Supreme Court will hear a case next month that seeks to force the state’s Republican attorney general, Rob McKenna, to withdraw from the multistate lawsuit in Florida.
With reference pricing, to charge Medicare extra companies get three years to show that a new, costly treatment is better than the old one.
LocalHealthGuide is a health news and information web service for Seattle and the Puget Sound Region. We are independent and unaffiliated with any hospital, medical association or insurer. If you have questions or if your group has an upcoming event that you would like us to cover, please let us know by going to our "Contact Us" page and dropping us a note. -- Michael McCarthy, Editor
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Lost in translation: Lack of trained interpreters can lead to medical errors
Interpreter services at hospitals and other medical settings are often inadequate, forcing family members, including children, to step in, or the task falls to medical staff members who may not speak the language well.
Some insurers deny ER coverage to people who have been drinking
Laws in more than half the states permit insurers to deny payment for medical services related to alcohol or drug use. Faced with the prospect of not getting paid for care, some ER personnel sidestep the problem by simply not testing patients’ blood or urine for alcohol.
Travel insurance can protect your wallet — and your health on vacation
Think your regular health insurance policy will cover you if you get into medical trouble overseas?
Don’t bet on it.
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