State approves Health Net sale to UnitedHealth
The decision was condemned on Friday by the Connecticut State Medical Society, which expressed concern that the takeover harms competition and leaves health care consumers little protection. In July, UnitedHealth and Health Net announced the deal, worth more than $500 million. United has confirmed that the deal does not include the nearly 1,000 workers Health Net has in Connecticut, with the vast majority in Shelton, but has not discussed potential job losses. United employs nearly 4,000 in the state. One of the issues the medical society raised Friday was that United is buying the right, but not the obligation, to re-enroll Health Net’s customers in its UnitedHealthcare insurance read more
Read MoreCosts soaring for providing free insurance for Iowa state employees
Iowa is one of only six states to offer the option of free health insurance to state government employees and their families. And the state’s cost to provide health insurance has increased more than 300 percent — $176 million — in 10 years, a Des Moines Register analysis shows. Iowa’s state employees also pay substantially lower out-of-pocket health insurance costs, such as deductibles and office co-payments, than private-sector workers, according to an independent study of nearly 900 businesses and government employers conducted this year by David P. Lind & Associates of Clive. Government employees at all levels in Iowa, including those working for schools and local read more
Read MoreHealth care reform and buying coverage across state lines
I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Now that that’s over, Congress is back in session, and the Senate is tackling the health care reform issue. One of the things that is being discussed in reforming our health insurance system is allowing people to buy insurance plans from other states where they might be able to find less expensive plans. I’m not sure how this is supposed to work, and here’s why. One reason the cost of plans is lower in some states than is others is the number of mandated services a health plan is required to cover. The more a plan is required to cover, the higher the cost of coverage. For example, California has 56 required services that read more
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