Memorial Day War Wall

(Indianapolis, May 26, 2010) WellPoint, Inc. (NYSE: WLP), the nation’s largest health insurer by medical membership, announced today it will unilaterally implement key provisions of the Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act introduced by U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro. These new provisions include more transparent benefit language including clear explanations of benefits to members with breast cancer, [...]

The Los Angeles Times (5/24, Worth) publishes a 1,050-word advisory piece for consumers contemplating health savings account plans. Whereas traditional HMOs and PPOs work well for people who prefer the predictability of a co-pay, HSAs are good for people who want “tax advantages and who can put money away each month for expenses.” The high-deductible [...]

The AP (5/21, Ohlemacher) reports, “Lawmakers have agreed on legislation to extend expanded jobless benefits for the long-term unemployed through the end of the year. Laid-off workers would also continue to get subsidies to buy health insurance through the COBRA program.” The measure “would be paid for, in part, by tax increases on investment managers [...]

The Hill (5/20, Pecquet) reports, “House Democrats are seeking to assuage doctors worried about looming cuts to Medicare rates. The effort comes one day after the American Medical Association declared its opposition to a proposed five-year fix to the payment system, which it said only serves to kick the problem down the road.” On Wednesday, [...]

The Hill (5/18, Pecquet) reports, “The White House is aggressively touting the new healthcare law after failing to see an immediate bounce in polls from congressional approval of the legislation. Faced with the prospect of a Democratic rout in November, the White House last month brought on [a] communications expert…to oversee healthcare messaging and at [...]

The Houston Chronicle (5/18, Ackerman) reports that “Texas doctors are opting out of Medicare at alarming rates, frustrated by reimbursement cuts they say make participation in government-funded care of seniors unaffordable.” Just “two years after a survey found nearly half of Texas doctors weren’t taking some new Medicare patients, new data shows 100 to 200 [...]

The Los Angeles Times (5/17, Kritz) reports, “Under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act,” several million “soon-to-be college graduates who traditionally have lost health insurance coverage once they pushed that tassel over the mortarboard” can continue to be covered under their parents’ health insurance plans. The Times adds, “Regulations clarifying the new provision were [...]

Older men who shack up with much younger women keep the Grim Reaper at bay for the human population and extend our species’ lifespan, new research claims. A man’s chances of dying early are cut by a fifth if their bride is between 15 and 17 years their junior. The risk of premature death is [...]

The Hill (5/14, Pecquet) reports, “House Democrats are struggling with how to prevent cuts to physician payments under Medicare. The cuts are scheduled to go into effect” on June 1, and “lobbyists say they’ve heard lawmakers might not fix the problem for more than seven months in the tax extenders package currently under discussion.” Notably, [...]