A Kaiser study has found that many companies are passing their premium increases onto their employees instead of absorbing them as they used to do. Total premiums rose 3% for family coverage and 5% for singles this year. The study also estimates that the health care reform law could increase costs 2% – 5% in the next three years.
Johanns amendment, which called for the repeal of the 1099 requirement for businesses, failed in Congress. The amendment, however, had further health care reform implications. These implications included to cut $11 billion in funding from prevention and public health and to weaken and exempt certain individuals from the individual mandate requiring individuals to purchase health insurance by 2014.
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A new study commissioned by Families USA shows that in 2014 over 29 million middle class Americans will be eligible for a tax cut worth a total of $110 billion. Other tax cuts include families with a full-time employed worker and families with a part-time employed worker.
Ohioans who have been denied coverage through the individual market because of pre-existing conditions have another option. High risk pools and open enrollment coverage is available to those individuals who have been without insurance for at least six-months. The high risk program will run until 2013 through Medical Mutual of Ohio.
A Florida judge is set to hear the arguments from 20 states against the health care reform law on December 16. The states in on the lawsuit include Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Nebraska, Nevada, North Dakota, South Carolina, South Dakota, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah and Washington. Another plaintiff included in the case is the National Federation of Independent Business.
Many U.S. health insurers are expanding health abroad as they face health care uncertainties here in the U.S. One health insurer, Cigna, bought a Belgium firm that administers benefits and has employer-sponsored programs in 26 other countries.
The economy has caused many former workers to apply for disability benefits through Social Security, a total of around 8 million were receiving disability benefits in June. Between 2008 and 2009, applications grew by 2.8 million (a 21 percent increase), which is the sharpest growth seen in the program’s history.
About half of doctors who received payment of $1 million or more did not report them in published articles about such devices. This is significant as most of the written articles are directly related to devices made by the companies they received payments from. The new health care law requires by 2013 that medical device and drug corporations must report payments to doctors in a public database.
A report recently found that the health care reform would raise health care costs. However, Nancy-Ann DeParle, director of the White House Office of Health Reform, said that the costs will go down over time. However, the same report also states that by 2019, spending per person will be down $1,000. Also by 2019, the total for the health care reform will have cost $4.6 trillion. By 2019, the difference in spending will be just $265 difference compared to the cost without the reform.
States are seeing a low number of participants in high-risk pools with pre-existing conditions. This shows a lack in interest in the programs, which could affect the health care reform overhaul and the success of future programs. Many attribute the low numbers to high prices, they aren’t aware of the programs and a general distrust in government with negative media coverage, specifically in terms of medical care.
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