NAIC Reaches Milestone by Okaying ‘Blanks’ Proposal, But Insurers Are Grumpy

The National Association of Insurance Commissioners approved on Tuesday the detailed form insurers will have to fill out to determine whether they are spending enough money on medical care and quality improvement activities under the health care overhaul law.
Approval of the so-called blanks proposal marks a milestone in the arduous, months-long effort by the NAIC [...]

Commissioners OK health rate plan

It was a rare moment in the drawn out and highly partisan health care debate: a unanimous vote.
The National Association of Insurance Commissioners approved Tuesday morning a preliminary outline of what insurers will be able to count as medical costs, a document necessitated by the health reform bill’s [...]

State regulators’ vote on medical loss ratio upsets insurers

The health insurance industry on Tuesday criticized state regulators for adopting a narrow category for what health plans can count as medical care and quality improvements when calculating their medical loss ratios.
Barring health plans from counting fraud prevention and other investments, insurers say, hamstrings their ability to [...]

Health care opposition group funds GOP challengers

A Las Vegas activist suing the United States over the health care reform law is tapping a deep-pocketed network of gamblers and Nevada businessmen to funnel tens of thousands of dollars to Republican congressional candidates.
Tony Dane, who runs a robocalling firm and helped GOP Senate nominee Sharron [...]

Obama promotes health overhaul

President Barack Obama on Saturday credited the health care overhaul with extending the solvency of Medicare and delivering new benefits and savings to senior citizens — a group of voters that remains deeply skeptical of the new law.
“We’ve made Medicare more solvent by going after waste, fraud, [...]

Obama takes credit for healthier Medicare

President Obama on Saturday took credit for placing Medicare on a more certain fiscal path and pledged to American seniors that they would see more help soon paying for drug costs in a direct appeal to an important segment of the midterm electorate.
Citing a report issued this week by [...]

CMS Actuaries: Trustees’ Report ‘Unduly Optimistic’ About Medicare’s Future

If Thursday’s report by the Medicare board of trustees on the program’s financial outlook seemed too optimistic, a presentation Friday by Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Chief Actuary Richard Foster offered what may be a more realistic assessment.
The trustees said Thursday that about $575 billion over 10 years in Medicare savings generated by [...]

How to Keep the Cost of Prescription Drugs Down

The health-reform law helps reduce prices on drug costs, but there are steps you can take further reduce costs.
Sticker shock at the pharmacy window has resulted in increased public pressure to stem drug costs.
Experts agree the health-care reform bill provides some cost savings for the average consumer now, and [...]

Seniors Have Big Misconceptions About Overhaul Law, Poll Finds

Half of the public now expresses a favorable view of the health care overhaul law while the percentage that views it unfavorably has dropped to 35 percent compared to 41 percent a month ago, says a new Kaiser Commission tracking poll.
Only about a quarter of those polled – 27 percent – said the law should [...]

Poll shows opposition to health care overhaul declining

Opposition to the landmark health care overhaul declined over the past month, to 35 percent from 41 percent, according to the latest results of a tracking poll, reported Thursday.
Fifty percent of the public held a favorable view of the law, up slightly from 48 percent a month ago, while [...]

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