Coronavirus (COVID-19) and health insurance: What you need to know

Jeanne Pinder April 12, 2020

Coronavirus (COVID-19) and health insurance: What you need to know

So you’re worried about your health insurance given the coronavirus epidemic. You’re not alone. Whether you have or had job-sponsored insurance, or were on the state exchanges, or were uninsured before COVID-19 hit, it’s a topic of concern. Here are some situations, with answers. You lost your job and need insurance to replace employer-sponsored insurance. […]

Private health insurance costs are skyrocketing: Axios

Jeanne Pinder December 17, 2019

Private health insurance costs are skyrocketing: Axios

“The cost of private health insurance is out of control, compared to Medicare and Medicaid,” Drew Altman of the Kaiser Family Foundation writes on Axios. “You see that clearly if you take a long-term view of recently released federal data on health spending. This is why the health care industry — not just insurers, but […]

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Medicaid patients suffer as layers of private companies profit: The Los Angeles Times

Jeanne Pinder December 22, 2018

Medicaid patients suffer as layers of private companies profit: The Los Angeles Times

“Marcela Villa isn’t a big name in healthcare — but she played a crucial role in the lives of thousands of Medicaid patients in California,” Chad Terhune, lately of Kaiser Health News, writes over at The Los AngelesTimes. “Her official title: denial nurse. Each week, dozens of requests for treatment landed on her desk after […]

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A Health Economist’s Take on Medicaid: Medpage Today

Jeanne Pinder June 16, 2017

A Health Economist’s Take on Medicaid: Medpage Today

“Medicaid’s original objective was to provide medical care coverage to the poor. The poor, like the elderly (whose medical care would be covered by Medicare), had been largely left out of the U.S.’s growing employer-based insurance market because, starting in the 1950s, insurers began the practice of risk-rating (i.e., basing insurance premiums more on the […]

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Mayo to favor privately insured over Medicaid patients: The Star Tribune

Jeanne Pinder March 16, 2017

Summary: “Mayo Clinic’s chief executive made a startling announcement in a recent speech to employees: The Rochester-based health system will give preference to patients with private insurance over those with lower-paying Medicaid or Medicare coverage, if they seek care at the same time and have comparable conditions,” writes Jeremy Olson at The Minneapolis Star-Tribune. “The […]

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The history of our health care system, and the road not taken

Jeanne Pinder October 4, 2016

Summary: “It’s that time of year again. Insurance companies that participate in the Affordable Care Act’s state health exchanges are signaling that prices will rise dramatically this fall,” Christy Ford Chapin writes over at The Conversation, in a thorough, thoughtful examination of how our health care system came to be — including an explanation of […]

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The Still Expanding State of Medicaid in the United States: PwC

Jeanne Pinder September 26, 2016

Summary: Mediciaid covers 1 in 4 Americans, and 73 percent of them are covered by private Medicaid plans, according to a new report by Price Waterhouse Coopers. The report says: “The trend towards Private Medicaid Health Plans continues, but how much more growth remains? This analysis, the third annual on the State of Medicaid, offers […]

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States Report Medicaid enrollment increases; big insurers’ stocks are up

Jeanne Pinder October 28, 2013

One thing that’s been overlooked in the furor over problems at healthcare.gov is this: People who are eligible for Medicaid because of low income are getting health coverage. That was, after all, a big part of the plan. “Some states are signing up tens of thousands of new Medicaid enrollees in the initial weeks of […]

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What will this insurance cost, and what will it cover? Obamacare and you. Part 3 of our series.

Jeanne Pinder September 20, 2013

Here’s Part 3 of our mini-series on the Affordable Care Act and how the health insurance landscape is changing; Part 1 is here; Part 2 is here. * * * * * What can you tell me about buying health insurance under the new law? Not too much, please. Stick with us. This is not […]

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North Carolina to post prices of hospital services: Modern Healthcare

Jeanne Pinder August 22, 2013

Modern Healthcare on a new North Carolina law, which will require hospitals to “shine a light on the actual prices paid by Medicare, Medicaid and the uninsured, as well as the average and range of prices paid by the top five insurers.” “ ‘For too long, North Carolina patients have been in the dark on […]

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Tag: Medicaid