If you need to quickly digest the 2,000-odd page health care reform bill passed by the House last week, you’re in luck. Towers Perrin has boiled down the key points — provisions that would have a significant impact on employers and could appear in final legislation — to a four-page cheat sheet. Stay tuned for updates as the Senate re-writes this bill.
On October 13, 2009, the Senate Finance Committee approved Senator Max Baucus’s (D-Montana) health care bill, the America’s Healthy Future Act, by a vote of 14 to 9. Senator Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) was the only Republican to vote with the committee’s 13 Democrats in favor of the bill. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated the cost of the bill at $829 billion over 10 years.
The bill will now be fully merged with Sen. Kennedy’s HELP bill with hands-on participation from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and key Administration officials. Some of the most contentious issues to be resolved in the merger include the fate of the HELP bill’s government option, the Finance Committee’s weak individual mandate penalties and new taxes and fees on the insurance industry.
The stated aims of the legislation are to lower costs, provide quality, affordable health care coverage, make purchasing health insurance easier, prohibit discrimination due to health factors and improve the way the health care system delivers care. However, many in Congress are divided on whether the bill can meet these objectives. Opponents of the bill have argued that it will increase costs for many Americans, rather than making health care more affordable.
Stayed tuned for MANY updates as this bill is vollyed about the Senate and House.
Governor David A. Paterson signed into law three Governor’s Program bills that will make health insurance more affordable and improve access to health care for New Yorkers. The first extends the period of time for COBRA coverage from 18 to 36 months; the second permits families to cover their young adult dependents through age 29 under their job-based insurance; and the third enacts a series of managed care reforms to make health insurance work better for consumers and permit timely access to necessary health services. The effective date of these changes is September 1, 2009.
The NJ Prescription Drug Registry will help consumers compare retail prices charged by pharmacies for the most frequently prescribed prescription drugs. By comparing prices here, consumers can see what a pharmacy has reported to the state that it charged for a specific Rx. You will find that prices for the exact medication will be different from pharmacy to pharmacy and from town to town. To use this registry click here, this link will also be on the right side of my blog titled NJ Prescription Drug Registry. New York and Connecticut have a similar site called Prescription Drug Prices in New York State and CT Attorney General’s Prescription Drug Page.
According to a February 2009 Kaiser Health tracking poll more than 53% of all Americans are cutting back on healthcare in someway because of costs concerns. The most common behaviors are relying on home remedies and over the counter drugs rather than going to the doctor. One in four have put off healthcare that they needed more generally and one in five have not filled a needed prescription and one in six have cut pills in half or skipped doses to make their prescription last longer.
Together Rx Access, a prescription savings program sponsored by some of the nation’s largest pharmaceutical companies, has loosened its income eligibility requirements, thereby expanding the number of health consumers who qualify for the program. Share this anyone who is in need of support.
The DOL has released the new model notices today. We will be reviewing all new notices and sharing with you via email under which circumstances to use these new notices. COBRA NOTICES
Governor Patterson’s proposed State Budget will impose substantial additional costs to your employee and retiree health plans. These additional taxes and assessments will impact all plans including private business, schools, colleges & universities, hospitals and union funds.
This proposed tax would impose a $1 assessment per claim over $20 that is processed under a self insured program including prescriptions drugs and a 240 million increase in the HCRA “covered life” assessment paid by all entities providing health insurance.
The Governor has chosen a bad time to tax businesses that provide healthcare to employees and families to help bridge the states financial crisis. We need to get this message to him that these proposals would be devastating if they are not eliminated from the final budget.
Call your legislators in Albany now as they are working hard on this budget and need to hear from all businesses now on eliminating these taxs
Cuomo Speaks Out on Victory
Back in February 2008 I reported NY Attorney General, Andrew Cuomo was investigating United Healthcare and has subpoenaed 16 other health plans including Aetna, CIGNA, Humana, and Well Point a subsidiary of Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield to determine how they calculate UCR. UCR is the usual customary and reasonable payment made for medical services rendered outside of the insurance carrier’s network.
Yesterday United Healthcare agreed to close down two Ingenix databases used to determine usual and customary payment rates for services for out of network doctors and pay 50 M to establish a new database that will be run by an independent nonprofit. This much criticized database was run by Ingenix a subsidiary of United Healthcare.
Cuomo’s investigation found that the UCR determined by Ingenix database for claims led to underpayments by iurers anywhere from 10 to 28 percent. United wasn’t the only carrier using this database.
This is a huge victory for healthcare transparency for consumers. Under the agreement the new database will come with a web site that allows consumers to see how much they will be reimbursed for services in their area for out of network services
The NYS Health Accountability Foundations has published the 2008 Regional Health Care Report Card, which presents access, service and quality data for all hospitals and commercial managed care plans in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Vermont and Rhode Island.
Review reportcards for Insurance Carriers and Hospitals
