Group Health Teams With Hospital System In Pacific Northwest
Republished with permission from Kaiser Health News
Harris Meyer
Insurance Spat Leads to Less Rx Coverage for Some
The health reform act will require coverage of all drugs beginning in 2014, but Washington's insurance commissioner and the state's largest insurance companies are facing off over a move to eliminate drug coverage entirely under one plan.
July 3, 2012 A fight between the Washington state insurance commissioner and the state’s largest seller of individual health insurance is spotlighting problems in that increasingly troubled market. The spat arose over insurers’ efforts to curb soaring premiums by restricting or eliminating prescription drug benefits.
Experts say they haven’t yet seen similar moves by insurers in other states to axe drug coverage from policies sold in the individual market. But some predict expensive drug benefits will offer an inviting target.
Feds Jump-Start Health Insurance Co-Ops With Loans
February 21, 2012 -- Seven organizations will receive a total of $639 million in federal low-interest loans to launch new, consumer-governed health insurance plans in eight states, the federal government announced Tuesday.
Collaborative Efforts Can Save Money and Improve Care
Perhaps the biggest roadblock is the predominant fee-for-service system, which pays providers to deliver more services
This article was reprinted from www.kaiserhealthnews.org with permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Kaiser Health News, an editorially independent news service, is a program of the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan health care policy research organization unaffiliated with Kaiser Permanente.
