health insurers

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Senate Deal Includes 'Triggered' Public Option

Option will be revived if insurers fail to provide nonprofit plans

(Newser) - The Senate compromise on health care reform means the public option is dormant but not dead, according to an aide party to negotiations. The tentative deal reached last night will give insurance companies the option of creating nonprofit insurance plans to be offered on exchanges, but a federal public option...

Lobbyists Deal Death Blows to Health Care Cost Cuts

Having KO'd most cuts, they're aiming at Cadillac tax and Medicare commission

(Newser) - Who's winning the health care battle? Lobbyists, says the New York Times, who've succeeded in blocking virtually every avenue for cutting health care costs that has been put on the table. They've killed proposals that would pinch doctors, hospitals, insurers and employees who are the beneficiaries of so-called Cadillac health...

Forget What You've Heard: Health Reform Is Nearly Done

Obama has party, public, industry support, despite a few town halls

(Newser) - Barack Obama goes into tonight's Congressional address amid talk that his health reform plan—and indeed his entire presidency—are nearly doomed. But the New York Times, in a front-page analysis piece, is far more optimistic, noting that August's town hall chaos did not substantially change public opinion, nor did...

White House Fires Back at Drudge on Health Care

Responds to video showing Obama discussing 'eliminating' private insurance

(Newser) - The White House released a video response today to a Drudge Report posting labeled “Uncovered Video: Obama Explains How His Health Care Plan Will ‘Eliminate’ Private Insurance.” The communications director for the White House Office of Health Reform says the clip is taken “out of context”...

5 Things to Watch During Critical August Break
 5 Things to Watch During 
 Critical August Break
forget the beach
Aug 3, 2009 12:20 PM CDT

5 Things to Watch During Critical August Break

Health care takes center stage in 'consequential' recess

(Newser) - With health care reform hanging in the balance, the August congressional recess is likely to be a lot less relaxing than usual, writes Glenn Thrush in Politico. What to watch:
  1. Health insurers’ response to Nancy Pelosi’s singling them out as the "bad guys" on soaring health care costs.
...

Obama's Health Plan Will Crack Whip on States

States mishandle Medicaid, get bullied by private firms: doctor

(Newser) - Doctors nationwide are “outraged” by President Obama’s health care plan, but “I call it progress,” writes one Missouri physician for Salon. The reform would take oversight out of the hands of states, which seemingly specialize in “lax regulation of private insurers” and poor handling of...

Ex-Exec: Insurers Rip Off Customers
Ex-Exec: Insurers Rip Off Customers
Jun 24, 2009 8:10 PM CDT

Ex-Exec: Insurers Rip Off Customers

Senate panel hears of junk policies, efforts to dump sick peope

(Newser) - In the latest battle in the public vs. private health insurance debate, private insurers took a beating today on Capitol Hill. The gist, as presented by a Senate report and testimony from a former PR executive: Insurance companies routinely make consumers pay for bills the companies themselves should cover, sell...

If Health Care Push Fails, Blame Dems
If Health Care Push Fails, Blame Dems
OPINION
Jun 22, 2009 10:48 AM CDT

If Health Care Push Fails, Blame Dems

Public wants a public option; why do 'centrists' oppose it?

(Newser) - Now ought to be a good time to reform health care. With costs up and coverage down, polls show the public overwhelmingly favors change. Unfortunately, “a handful of Democratic senators are still determined to party like it’s 1993,” writes Paul Krugman of the New York Times. These...

Private Health Insurers Back Reform

Firms risk losing customers; aim to avoid single-payer plan

(Newser) - Facing a shrinking customer base, private health insurers are backing reform in the industry—a surprise from the same firms that fought President Clinton’s health care effort, the Los Angeles Times reports. Insurers are supporting a proposed mandate backed by the  Obama administration that would require everyone to buy...

Insurers Offer to Stop Charging Sick People More

(Newser) - The push for health care reform got a significant boost today: Big insurers say they are willing to stop charging higher premiums to people with pre-existing medical conditions, the New York Times reports. In the surprise move, industry leaders say they are willing to give up the practice if Congress...

Next Stab at Health Reform Looks More Promising

Industry claims to be ready to compromise

(Newser) - If health care reform passes this time, a major factor will be that its erstwhile enemies are now rooting for it, the Wall Street Journal reports. An industry roadblock killed the Clinton administration’s attempt in the early 1990s, but this time, insurers are playing ball. “You see a...

US Insurers Warming to Medical Tourism

Sending patients to India, elsewhere could save $20B a year

(Newser) - If you’re in need of high-priced surgery, your insurance company might have a plane ticket for you. Insurers are starting to warm to “medical tourism” for the same reason uninsured Americans are: Surgery is significantly cheaper overseas. At least 150,000 Americans go abroad for medical procedures every...

Insurer Owes Patient $9M for Ending Policy

Calif. firm canceled her plan in the middle of chemo treatments

(Newser) - A California health insurance company owes a breast cancer patient $9 million in damages after it canceled her policy in the middle of chemotherapy treatments for breast cancer, the LA Times reports. The arbitration judge called Health Net’s actions “despicable." The hefty ruling, the largest of its...

States Push to Restrain Insurers
States Push to Restrain Insurers
Feb 21, 2008 5:10 PM CST

States Push to Restrain Insurers

Legislators see rise in unfair cancellations of individual plans

(Newser) - As more Americans buy individual health insurance, states are acting to make sure insurers don’t cancel the plans without fair cause, USA Today reports. Plans can be canceled if applicants misreport their medical history, whether accidentally or on purpose. But amid complaints that companies are cutting the plans unjustly,...

Dems Take Aim at Big Business
Dems Take Aim at Big Business
Feb 16, 2008 1:07 PM CST

Dems Take Aim at Big Business

Obama and Clinton turn up the heat heading into Wisconsin, Ohio primaries

(Newser) - Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, heading into primaries in states struggling with joblessness and the mortgage crisis, are sharpening their attacks on big business, the Wall Street Journal reports. Both are lambasting oil companies, corporate tax cuts, and health insurers. Tuesday’s Wisconsin primary will be a test of which...

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