health insurance
Lousiana Leglislature Denies Malpractice Coverage to Doctors Who Perform Abortions
In a positively scary move against women’s right to choose – one that is medically risky – the Louisiana state legislature has decided that doctors who provide elective abortions should not be covered under medical malpractice laws. With a 31-2 vote, the Louisiana Senate passed the bill, which was sponsored by Representative Robert Johnson (D […]
Read moreSFO to Require Cell Phone Radiation Disclosures
Theories about cell phone use being hazardous to our health have been around nearly as long as the phones themselves, but now one city wants to help protect citizens. Specifically, the city of San Francisco, California could soon start requiring retailers to post notices showing how much radiation is emitted by the cell phones they […]
Read moreUnderinsured Number has Increased, but Reform is coming
The Christian Science Monitor reports that the number of underinsured Americans increased by over a third between 2003 and 2007, from 15 million to 25 million, and despite the passage of the health care reform bill earlier this year, there may be even more people who have some health insurance, but not enough to cover […]
Read moreLouisiana Officials Concerned About Health of BP Clean-Up Workers
Environmental and health officials in Louisiana are requesting that federal safety officials take steps to protect the health of those who are helping with the clean-up of the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Alan Levine, Health and Hospitals Secretary, and Peggy Hatch, Environmental Quality Secretary, say that daily reports of illness and […]
Read moreTexas Uninsured Rate Highest in Nation; Employers Feeling the Financial Pain.
Health Leaders InterStudy, a Nashville, Tenn.-based provider of managed care market intelligence, is reporting that Dallas, Texas area employers are having to pay higher premiums in order to provide health insurance coverage for their employees, because the region has such a high number of uninsured people. The high uninsured rate in the Dallas region, according […]
Read moreMeet the MIB – that’s Medical Insurance Board, not Men in Black
With all the talk of health insurance reform, including much reference to pre-existing conditions, and rules on when coverage may be canceled by an insurer, it’s natural to wonder exactly who is “in charge” of all that information. The answer? The MIB, that stands for Medical Insurance Board, and they’re a membership organization owned by […]
Read moreEnd of an Era: St. Vincent’s Hospital Closes
For 160 years, St Vincent’s hospital in New York City was a stalwart figure in the world of healthcare. Today, the Greenwich Village hospital closed its doors forever. St. Vincent’s was founded in 1849, and served as the flagship of St. Vincent’s Catholic Medical Centers of New York, and recorded $502 million in total revenue […]
Read moreHospital Cost Shifting Not a New Trend
Recent confirmed reports of an alarming change within the hospital industry, one that has been going on since long before the passage of the healthcare reform bill last month: Because they get lower reimbursements from public health insurance services like Medicaid and Medicare, many hospitals are trying to find new ways of making money, and […]
Read moreInsurers ReClassify Admin Expenses as Medical Expenses to Circumvent New Regs
The deadline for doing so isn’t until the first of next year, but already some of America’s largest health insurance companies are changing their accounting to reclassify administration costs as medical expenses, in order to work around industry reforms mandated by the recently-passed health care overhaul, says news agency Reuters, reporting on a U.S. Senate […]
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