Insurer Ties Employee Pay to Patient Health

Ronald Flanagan needs potentially life-saving transplant

(NEWSER) - Ronald Flanagan already has the donor for a potentially life-saving stem cell transplant, but he can’t have the surgery—because a $0.02 mistake left him without insurance. The Vietnam veteran’s wife, Frances, accidentally paid $328.67 instead of $328.69 when paying November’s bill online, she tells ABC Denver . As a result, Ceridian Cobra Services dropped the couple—and though the company says the Flanagans were warned, they claim that’s not true. More»

Even as insurance premium growth slows

(NEWSER) - Employers foisted a lot more health insurance costs onto their employees this year than last, even though premiums only inched upwards, according to an annual survey. Though premiums for businesses rose just 3% this year—their lowest increase in a decade—the cost the average employee was paying jumped 14%, the Wall Street Journal reports. “It’s the first time I can remember when employers have coped with costs by shifting it all to workers,” said the head of the Kaiser Family Foundation, which issued the survey. More»

Action on curbs didn't make final cut, leaving 'very big loophole'

(NEWSER) - Turns out the big health care reform bill doesn't actually rein in those out-of-control premium rate hikes. The Democrats used outrage over whopping increases to corral support for the overhaul, but the bill doesn't deliver, finds the Los Angeles Times , because it doesn't give the government the regulatory authority. "It is a very big loophole in health reform," says Sen. Dianne Feinstein. More»

Obesity 'accounts for nearly a tenth' of health-care spending

(NEWSER) - There’s an “elephant in the room” when it comes to health care reform: American health care costs a bundle in large part because we’re so fat, writes Michael Pollan for the New York Times. President Obama has touched on the issue, but the country hasn’t, and that’s because the food industry is “even more powerful” than health insurers. More»

(NEWSER) - If you want to see a health care plan that will hike your taxes, increase your medical expenses, and swell the deficit, Steven Pearlstein can name one: "Doing nothing as we continue to search in vain for the perfect plan." For the Washington Post columnist, a somewhat flawed health bill is better than none, and at the moment "the outlines of a good reform plan are there"—universal coverage, controlled costs, and improved quality. More»