Under the new health-reform law, insurers beginning this year must spend at least 80 percent of the premium dollars they collect on medical claims or quality improvement efforts. That has prompted Aetna in Connecticut to move to cut its premium for individual policies 10 percent.
Because the new health law forbids insurers from turning down coverage of kids, insurers are afraid parents will wait until their children are sick to enroll them.
Beginning next month, patients covered by the health insurer Aetna will be able to transfer their medical records to Microsoft’s online medical record service HealthVault. Currently, Aetna members have access to their personal medical records on a service run by Aetna. Starting in November, Aetna members will be able to transfer those records to the [...]
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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