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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: health insurance premiums

health insurance premiums stories: 22 news summaries

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analysis

Industry Report Distorts Health Reform Cost

Insurance firms' numbers blindside Baucus bill's backers

Oct 12, 09 2:50 PM CDT
(Newser) - A new report that says the Senate Finance Committee’s reform bill would raise private insurance premiums is riddled with troubling exceptions, writes Jonathan Cohn. The report, commissioned by America's Health Insurance Plans, estimates the costs of premiums over time if the bill is implemented, but it doesn’t take... More »

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health insurance • insurance companies • Senate Finance Committee • health insurance premiums • health care reform • Max Baucus • US Senate • America's Health Insurance Plans

(Newser) - Current health care legislation would require every American to buy health insurance, but would do little or nothing to control the skyrocketing premiums they’d have to pay, the LA Times reports. Versions of the bill try to address the problem indirectly—with a public option in the House... More »

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health care costs • health insurance premiums • health care reform • Max Baucus • public option • mandate

40% of Employers to Hike Health Plan Costs Next Year

Another 8% to drop coverage entirely, survey reveals

Sep 16, 09 9:07 AM CDT
(Newser) - Many Americans are happy with their employer-sponsored health care plans and eager to keep them, but they won't be keeping them at the current price, the Washington Post reports. In a survey released yesterday, some 40% of employers said they expect to increase the amount their employees paid for... More »

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health care costs • health insurance • Kodak • Business Roundtable • employers • health insurance premiums • health care reform • survey

ANALYSIS

Health Care
Bills Don't Offer
Real Choice

Legislation in Congress seem to settle for status quo

Aug 26, 09 1:22 PM CDT
(Newser) - Health insurance firms are essentially monopolies because employers, not individuals, choose which plans to offer. This freedom from competitive forces has allowed insurance to become flaky and opaque—and the reform currently being debated in Washington would do little about it, writes David Leonhardt for the New York Times. Even... More »

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health insurance • Senate • insurance • health insurance premiums • health care reform • Bob Bennett • Ron Wyden • vouchers • health insurance industry

(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... More »

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Congress • health insurance • health insurance premiums • health care reform • health insurers

(Newser) - Health-care policy debate in America is usually framed around the 45 million (and rising) uninsured, but rarely do policymakers bring up the additional 25 million facing the “shadow problem” of under-insurance, Time reports. These people pay more than 10% of their income on out-of-pocket medical costs, often on flimsy... More »

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health care • health • health insurance • health insurance premiums • children's health care • Bill Maher Grid

Uninsured Young Adults Play Doctor

Some feel invincible
but most just can't afford pricey premiums

Feb 18, 09 9:19 AM CST
(Newser) - Twentysomethings in low-paying jobs with no health coverage are taking up the slack with self-diagnosis and treatment, a potentially dangerous practice that may seem unavoidable. Many say they face a choice between buying insurance and making rent—and they're opting for the latter. "They’re new to the work... More »

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health care • health insurance • New York • Manhattan • young adult • health insurance premiums • David Paterson

 Tsunami in Medicaid Need 
 Batters Broke States 

Demand from newly unemployed leaves states looking to stimulus package for help

Jan 22, 09 7:01 AM CST
(Newser) - A surge in demand for Medicaid is draining state coffers just when they can least afford it, a New York Times survey of 40 states reveals. Demand ballooned by up to 10% in many states last year as people lost their employer-sponsored health care with their jobs, and officials believe... More »

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health care • health insurance • Medicaid • unemployment • health insurance premiums • economic stimulus package

Critics Rip Gender Gap in Health Insurance Charges

Advocates call for an end to higher premiums for women

Oct 30, 08 3:04 AM CDT
(Newser) - Health advocates and some politicians are crying foul over the huge price difference between men's and women's health insurance, the New York Times reports. Healthy young women are regularly charged up to 50% more than their male counterparts, even when maternity care is excluded. The practice is prohibited under job-based... More »

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health insurance • women's health • health insurance premiums • gender gap

 US Health Costs 
 to Rise 5.7% in '09 

Insurance costs go up for 4th straight year

Sep 4, 08 1:45 PM CDT
(AP) - Get ready for another increase in co-pays and deductibles. A survey being released today found that 59% of employers intend to keep down rising health care costs by sharing them with workers. Costs will go up by an average 5.7% for both parties next year, rising faster than inflation... More »

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health care costs • health insurance • employers • health insurance premiums • Mercer study

OPINION

The Win-Win Economics of Medical Tourism

Growing trend of traveling for health care doesn't have to hurt anyone

Aug 15, 08 2:28 PM CDT
(Newser) - The spread of “medical tourism”—uninsured and underinsured patients seeking cheap health care in Southeast Asia or Latin America—has fueled fears that developing nations will divert resources from state health systems caring for their own citizens. But, the Economist argues, “if governments make the best of... More »

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medicine • health care • health care costs • globalization • outsourcing • health insurance premiums • developing world • medical tourism

In Sickness and for Health Insurance

Health benefit concerns force couples into marriage and divorce

Aug 13, 08 9:08 AM CDT
(Newser) - Health insurance worries are pushing a growing number of Americans both into and out of marriages, the New York Times reports. Couples in which one party has better health benefits are marrying hastily as medical needs outweigh any doubts about each other. One survey this year found health insurance was... More »

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health care • divorce • health insurance • marriage • medical costs • health insurance premiums

 Obama Health Care
 Cure May Prove Elusive 

Quick reform isn't likely, say analysts

Jul 23, 08 8:09 AM CDT
(Newser) - In a campaign that has made several big promises, perhaps Barack Obama's most ambitious vow is that he will bring down health care premiums by $2,500 by the end of his first term as president. But whether he can deliver that is an open question, writes the New York ... More »

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health care • Barack Obama • health insurance • health insurance premiums • health care reform

Health Care Costs to US Manufacturers Skyrocket

US employers pay double the price foreign companies do

May 7, 08 12:50 PM CDT
(Newser) - The cost of providing health insurance to US workers is rising so fast it can't be passed along either to workers or customers, a new study reported in the Los Angeles Times finds. Manufacturers now spend, on average, $2.38 per worker per hour—more than twice as much as... More »

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health care costs • manufacturing • health insurance premiums • auto industry

Health Costs Hurt Insured Americans, Too

More cut back on
doctor visits to save much-needed bucks

May 4, 08 2:31 PM CDT
(Newser) - Even Americans with health insurance are ducking the doctor these days as health costs rise and the economy stays queasy, the New York Times reports. Family premiums have doubled in recent years, and out-of-pocket costs have gone up, too: “It just keeps eating into people’s income,” said... More »

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health care • health care costs • income • US economy • medical bills • health insurance premiums

 More Say 'I Do' for Health Plans 

About 7% marry to get coverage as costs soar

Apr 29, 08 10:12 AM CDT
(Newser) - Health-insurance worries have gotten so serious they're pushing some Americans up the aisle, the Los Angeles Times reports. In a new survey, 7% of people said they or somebody in their household had married in the last year to get health benefits. The survey also found that health-care worries trumped... More »

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health care • health insurance • marriage • medical costs • health insurance premiums

OPINION

Blogger Weighs Health Care Plans, Flunks McCain

Clinton edges Obama in real-life take on insurance reform

Apr 25, 08 4:40 PM CDT
(Newser) - Hacking through the forest of reporting on the presidential candidates' health care plans, Glamour blogger Megan Carpentier weighs in. Writing "as someone born with a birth defect who has been known to get sick," she bluntly begins, "I know enough about my own health insurance situation over... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Barack Obama • Hillary Clinton • John McCain • health insurance • health insurance premiums • health care reform • Election 2008

Clinton Pitches Cap on Health Insurance

Proposes to limit premiums to  5-10%
of median income

Mar 28, 08 8:01 AM CDT
(Newser) - Hillary Clinton has proposed putting a cap on premiums in her universal health care plan, limiting them to between 5% and 10% of family income, the New York Times reports. The average cost of a family policy bought by an individual last year was $5,799, or 10% of median... More »

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health care • Hillary Clinton • health insurance • Medicare • universal health care • health insurance premiums

Many Duck
DNA Tests Over Fears of Bias

Bosses and insurers
will dis them over disorders, some say

Feb 24, 08 5:06 PM CST
(Newser) - Some Americans are ducking genetic tests for fear that bosses and insurers may single out those with disorders, the New York Times reports. Others, tested privately, hide problems from doctors to dodge financial pain—leading, in some cases, to health problems that could have been avoided. But insurance reps and... More »

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DNA • health care industry • health insurance premiums • genetic disorders

Prices Jump for Top Drugs

Drug giants collect now against expected future losses

Feb 21, 08 4:45 AM CST
(Newser) - Drug companies have slapped a series of huge price hikes on some prescription drugs ahead of drug patent expirations, the Wall Street Journal reports. GlaxoSmithKline has raised the price of antidepressant Wellbutrin 44.5%, while Sanofi-Aventis hiked Ambien's price 70%. Wholesale prices for the top 50 drugs increased an average... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Barack Obama • Hillary Clinton • John McCain • antidepressant • drug companies • GlaxoSmithKline • Pfizer • health insurance premiums • price increases • health care reform • Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services • Lipitor • pharmaceutical industry • co-pays • Ambien • Wellbutrin • Adderall XR • Sanofi-Aventis • Shire • patent expiration

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