Healthcare Finance Staff
In this week's HIX Digest: Tennessee Tea Party groups rally against a state-run HIX, the OPM proposes multi-state plan rules, New York aims for integrated eligibility systems and advocates wait for tobacco cessation coverage details.
Mark T. Bertolini, chairman, CEO and president of Aetna, delivered the opening keynote on Monday at the mHealth Summit. A former executive for Cigna, NYLCare Health Plans and SelectCare, he now oversees a global healthcare benefits company with some 33,000 employees in North America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East.
Medicare Advantage (MA) HMO plans may be offering more efficient care than Medicare Part A and B plans, a study published in the journal Health Affairs has found. According to researchers, MA HMO enrollees have fewer hip and knee replacements and use fewer benefits for outpatient surgeries and procedures, inpatient stays and emergency department visits.
Missouri governor pushes for Medicaid expansion; Kansas still awaits word from feds on KanCare overhaul; and New Jersey bill would limit insurers' ability to make reimbursement cuts in this week's Medicaid Digest.
With the U.S. presidential election now squarely in the rearview mirror, the focus shifts to the implementation of key facets of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). No portion of the law will be under greater scrutiny than the introduction of government-sponsored health insurance exchanges, scheduled to begin accepting open enrollment in October 2013, with an implementation date of January 1, 2014.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is challenging two hospital acquisitions, one in Ohio and another in Georgia that's currently under review by the U.S. Supreme Court, and the outcomes may establish precedent for post-health reform provider consolidation.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services will have to manage and analyze double the volume of Medicare data and triple the terabytes of Medicaid data after health reform is fully in place.
One of several private health insurance exchanges that has evolved over the past several years, Buffalo-based benefits exchange company Liazon garnered some attention recently when it was ranked number 132 on the Inc. 5000 list of fastest growing companies.
The average premium for family health plans sold through eHealthInsurance.com was $412 a month in 2012, down slightly from 2011, amid "a relative flattening of the cost curve," eHealth Inc. CEO Gary Lauer said.
In this week's HIX Digest, the tab for Minnesota's exchange is growing; Oregon takes public comment on proposed rules; and IT vendor Connecture unveils a plan management module for regulators.