Hoodia Gordonii Plus

[Guidance Overview] Balance Billing Practices May Constitute Breach of Contract

October 6, 2009 on 5:30 am | In Uncategorized | Comments Off Excerpt: "This district court opinion holds interest for health care providers and benefit fiduciaries alike. As against a motion to dismiss, the district court holds that the plaintiffs have stated a cause of action against the health care provider for balance billing, i.e., billing the balance 'owed' after their health plan paid the PPO discounted rate." (Attorney Roy F Harmon III in the Health Plan Law blog)

Private Health Insurance: Research on Competition in the Insurance Industry (PDF)

October 6, 2009 on 5:30 am | In Uncategorized | Comments Off 13 pages. Excerpt: "Health care providers and members of Congress have raised concerns that consolidation in the private health insurance industry may be resulting in less competitive markets and contributing to rising health insurance rates paid by consumers and employers. However, measuring the extent of changes in market competition over time or the effects of changes is challenging. . . . Despite [the] challenges, researchers have used the data available to study competition in health insurance markets, typically using one of two measures of competition: (1) HMO market concentration or (2) the number of HMOs in a market." (U.S. Government Accountability Office)

New York Laws Increase State COBRA Period and Age for Dependent Health Insurance Coverage (PDF)

October 6, 2009 on 5:30 am | In Uncategorized | Comments Off 3 pages. Excerpt: "On July 29, 2009, New York Governor David Paterson (D) signed into law three health reform bills -- one extending the period for state health coverage continuation rights from 18 to 36 months, one requiring insurers to offer continued coverage for unmarried adults through age 29 under their parent's individual or group health insurance policies, and one instituting a series of managed care reforms." (Buck Consultants)

Consumer Driven Health Plans Cover More Employees than HMOs, According to Survey Results

October 6, 2009 on 5:30 am | In Uncategorized | Comments Off Excerpt: "Consumer Driven Health Plans (CDHPs) in the U.S. have surpassed HMO plans in covered employees, according to preliminary results released by United Benefit Advisors (UBA) from its 2009 UBA Health Plan Survey, a plan benchmarking poll with 17,655 plans from 12,316 employers reporting. According to a press release, CDHPs grew at a rate of 33.9% this past year and now cover more employees (15.4%) than HMO plans (13.6%)." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)

S Lanka pledge on refugee camps

October 6, 2009 on 5:28 am | In South Asia | Comments Off Sri Lanka's government says it is taking measures to ensure that refugee camps will cope with monsoon rains.