The Department of Labor, Department of Health and Human Services, and the Internal Revenue Service have released new guidelines for the federal “Insurance Verification” law that will be enacted in September of this year. The law, often referred to as “One Nation, One Verification,” aims to make verifying health insurance less problematic. The law exists to augment to Affordable Care Act. The federal health is meant to make attaining insurance coverage easier for Americans, but this ease of access could create administrative nightmares as consumers purchase policies that will allow…
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Aetna makes a statement in the industry
At this year’s Health 2.0 event, Mark Bertolini, the CEO of Aetna, gave a very positive outlook for the future of health insurance in his company as a result of the current and upcoming changes to the healthcare system in the United States. The reason is that the insurer has reinvented itself by providing a unique healthtech startup company exit opportunity after having made more than $1.5 billion in acquisitions in 2011. Those acquired companies are playing an important role in assisting healthcare organizations to make their first steps into…
Read MoreMillions of Americans may receive rebates from insurers this year
Before the summer draws to a close, millions of people across the United States will be receiving rebates from their insurers, due to the new federal healthcare reform requirements that have placed strict rules on the way that insurance companies spend their earnings. This regulation is not without opposition. The entire insurance industry, along with a large number of state officials, have been battling this rule for some time. Based on the federal regulations that went into effect at the end of 2011, health insurance companies are required to spend…
Read MoreSurvey shows that challenges facing states in building health insurance exchanges
A new survey conducted by the KPMG Government Institute, an analysis organization that focuses on government policy and legislative trends, provides some insight on some of the challenges facing states in their efforts to build a health insurance exchange. The survey draws upon information provided by 80 state officials from throughout the country. These officials offered information on why health insurance exchanges seem to be such a troublesome issue. The common consensus boils down to cost. The survey suggests that insurance exchanges may be too expensive for some states, even…
Read MoreSupreme Court to begin litigation on Affordable Care Act this month
This month, the U.S. Supreme Court will begin litigation on the controversial Affordable Care Act. The federal law seeks to radically change the structure of the country’s health care industry and introduces new insurance regulations that are aimed at benefiting consumers. The Act was signed into law in 2010 and has since been a point of contention for political leaders and legislators throughout the U.S. Many states have backed the Affordable Care Act, but others have filed lawsuits against the federal government, accusing the law of being unconstitutional. The Supreme…
Read MoreHiscox report shows that “super losses” are becoming more common in the U.S.
A new report from Hiscox, a specialist health insurance company in the U.S., shows that so called “super losses” are having an impact on the country’s health insurance industry. Super losses is a term that refers to claims that exceed $50 million. The report notes that these costly claims are becoming more common in the health care sector. Because these claims hold such a large price tag, they often find their way to courts. Juries often side with consumers in these cases and in the past two years have awarded…
Read MoreHealth insurance analysis suggests that insurance may be completely unaffordable by 2031
Two leading medical professionals have published a new analysis of the future of health insurance in the latest issue of Annals of Family Medicine. Richard A. Young and Jennifer E. Devoe have taken a look at the Affordable Care Act and how it will affect the health insurance industry from when it is fully enacted in 2014 to the state of the industry in 2037. The study assumes that the federal health care law is successful in its goal of lowering health insurance premiums. Despite this supposed success, the study…
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