Essence coverage bypasses insurers By Patrick Howington The Courier-Journal Doctors often say health care would be better if insurers didn’t interfere in medical decisions. Now some Louisville and Lexington physicians have a chance to prove it. They have designed and will run a Medicare managed-care plan, Essence, that will start providing coverage Jan. 1. It […]

By E.B. SOLOMONT Staff Reporter of the Sun http://www.nysun.com/ Fed up with the state’s medical malpractice insurance crisis, some New York City doctors are airing televised messages in their waiting rooms that warn patients of a looming physician shortage. One 60-second spot describes a scarcity of radiologists in the Bronx who are willing to perform […]

The Insurance professionals only source for News The state’s insurance commissioner and its largest malpractice insurer today announced that the insurer will cut premiums by 8 percent for next year and return $84 million to the state. In addition to the rate cut, Medical Mutual Liability Insurance Society of Maryland will distribute $13.8 million in […]

Two Pennsylvania payers say their merger will slash costs and reduce uninsured rolls, but some providers remain jittery over decreased insurer competition. http://www.healthleadersmedia.com Pennsylvania’s two largest health insurers are on track to merge by next fall, creating a mega-company that would control more than 53 percent of the state’s health insurance market and, the companies […]

Associated Press http://www.wisconsinrapidstribune.com/ MADISON — A majority of Wisconsin residents favor a state-run health insurance system, but even more like the idea of expanding existing programs or investing in health savings accounts, according to a poll released Wednesday. The results lend support to Democratic lawmakers’ efforts to pass a universal health care plan rejected by […]

By DAVID AMMONS AP POLITICAL WRITER http://seattlepi.nwsource.com OLYMPIA, Wash. — Gov. Chris Gregoire on Friday proposed tougher policing of health care professionals and more transparency of hospitals’ patient safety records. The governor, who has made expanded health care a centerpiece of her term in office, said patient safety is “the next logical step on the […]

BY SUSAN K. LIVIO Star-Ledger Staff http://www.nj.com Nearly 1,200 checks are in the mail to help obstetricians, neurosurgeons and radiologists afford their medical malpractice insurance and keep them practicing in New Jersey, Banking and Insurance Commissioner Steven Goldman announced yesterday. The state’s Medical Malpractice Liability Insurance Premium Assistance fund is doling out $16.4 million to […]

http://www.clarionledger.com # The state Supreme Court reversed a $6.5 million jury award against a nursing home and its parent company Mariner Health Care Inc. The case involved a severely mentally retarded man whose health deteriorated. Intravenous feeding wasn’t ordered until his final hospitalization on Feb. 2, 2002. He died 14 days later from cardiac arrest […]

http://www.healthbeatblog.org/ by: Maggie Mahar Recently I argued that eliminating the private insurance industry would not suddenly make health care affordable. But this is no reason to gratuitously overpay private insurers to provide health care to Medicare patients—while simultaneously planning to slash the fees that Medicare pays physicians. Begin with the insurers. When Congress created Medicare […]