Latest California Healthline Stories
Insurance Commissioner Puts Aetna And Humana In Hot Seat Over Merger Deal
Executives from Aetna and Humana defended their proposed $37 billion tie-up in a hearing conducted by Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones. Consumer groups warned it would lead to higher premiums and restricted access to care.
Medicare Delays Plans For New Star Ratings On Hospitals After Congressional Pressure
The “overall hospital quality” rating is designed to help consumers who are sometimes confused by the variety of quality measures that the government already provides. But members of Congress had asked for the delay because of concerns that the methodology for the stars was not accurate.
Bill Would Expand Hospital Reporting On Executive Pay
The Assembly’s health committee Tuesday approved legislation that would require hospitals and affiliated medical groups to report the compensation of all executives making $250,000 or more a year.
UnitedHealthcare To Exit All But ‘Handful’ Of Obamacare Markets In 2017
UnitedHealthcare said Tuesday it will leave most of the 34 states in which it offers health insurance under Obamacare, but Nevada and Virginia are two markets it will retain a presence. Company officials would not say if the changes would affect customers in California, but United had a small portion of the Covered California market.
Competition Suffers Most If UnitedHealth Exits Obamacare In 2017: Analysis
A Kaiser Family Foundation analysis released Monday, a day ahead of UnitedHealth’s expected announcement, finds 1.1 million consumers would have no choice in health insurance plans if the giant insurer drops out of Obamacare marketplaces as threatened.
Tainted Scope Infections Far Exceed Earlier Estimates
House panel concludes inquiry on superbug outbreaks; one member prepares legislation “to make sure these situations don’t happen again.”
A Dearth Of Hospital Beds For Patients In Psychiatric Crisis
A California Assembly bill would require creating a mandatory registry for available psychiatric hospital beds, but the state hospital association calls it unworkable.
A researcher and MinuteClinic executive discuss the conclusions in a recent study suggesting that the clinics actually add to outpatient costs.
Anthem-Cigna Merger Proposal Takes A Grilling
The state insurance commissioner and consumer advocates expressed skepticism at a hearing on the huge insurance deal.
Mortgages For Expensive Health Care? Some Experts Think It Can Work.
An MIT economist and Harvard oncologist propose offering loans to patients to cover the cost of expensive, curative drugs, financed by private sector investment in loan securities.