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Individual Health

Insurance industry under fire for ‘discrimination’ against sick

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By Caitlin Bronson, August 18, 2014 More than 300 patient advocacy groups took to pen and paper this week to tell Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell health insurers are discriminating against the sick, despite the goals of the Affordable Care Act. Insurer tactics, which the industry defends as legitimate cost control measures, are “highly discriminatory against patients …

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Aegis Health Group CEO: Dramatic changes ahead for health insurance industry

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By Diana Manos, August 20, 2014 Hold on to your seats and gear up for the most dramatic changes the health insurance industry has faced yet, says Aegis Health Group CEO Phil Suiter, in an interview with The Tennessean.  Suiter spoke with Tennessean reporter Shelley DuBois about the growing power of healthcare consumers and why insurance companies will look “radically …

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Groups claim insurance discrimination in new forms

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By Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar, August 17, 2014 WASHINGTON (AP) – Ending insurance discrimination against the sick was a central goal of the nation’s health care overhaul, but leading patient groups say that promise is being undermined by new barriers from insurers. The insurance industry responds that critics are confusing legitimate cost-control with bias. Some state regulators, however, say there’s reason to …

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Insurance rate hikes sought in federal marketplace

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The Associated Press, July 23, 2014 BATON ROUGE, La. — Thousands of people who bought health insurance through the marketplace created by the federal health care overhaul face price hikes next year that could top 10 percent. More than 60,000 people who get health insurance through the individual marketplace — which was expanded by the federal Affordable Care Act — …

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Health insurance rates surged this year in California, official says

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By Stuart Pfeifer, July 29, 2014 The cost of health insurance for individuals skyrocketed this year in California, with some paying almost twice what they did last year, the state’s insurance commissioner said. But Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones predicted that insurers will ease up in the coming year to prevent California voters from approving tough new rate controls on the …

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Insurance Coverage for Fertility Treatments Varies Widely

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By Tara Siegel Bernard, July 25, 2014 Sarah Patterson, a 27-year-old nurse, suffered four miscarriages over the last four years because of several medical problems, including a condition that causes cysts to form on the ovaries. After her second loss, she said, her husband asked for a divorce because he could not handle the stress. “I was heartbroken and devastated,” …

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In U.S., Uninsured Rate Sinks to 13.4% in Second Quarter

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By Jenna Levy, July 10, 2014 WASHINGTON, D.C.–The uninsured rate in the U.S. fell 2.2 percentage points to 13.4% in the second quarter of 2014. This is the lowest quarterly average recorded since Gallup and Healthways began tracking the percentage of uninsured Americans in 2008. The previous low point was 14.4% in the third quarter of 2008. The uninsured rate …

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Abortions not covered by insurance

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By Jess Seabolt, June 25, 2014 A bill prohibiting insurance policies and health maintenance organization contracts from providing coverage for abortions will go into effect July 1. House Bill 1123, authored by Rep. Jeff Thompson, R-Lizton, prohibits insurance companies from covering abortions, unless there is a specific circumstance, such as cases of rape, incest or the health of the mother. …

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A majority of Americans oppose restrictions on contraception insurance coverage, says poll

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By Joan Biskupic, June 30, 2014 WASHINGTON—A majority of Americans oppose letting employers, based on their religious views, exclude certain contraceptives from workers’ insurance coverage, says a Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll ahead of a U.S. Supreme Court decision expected on Monday. In one of the most closely watched cases of the year, the nine-member court will weigh whether for-profit corporations may …

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960,000 NYers Sign For Insurance Under New Health Law

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The Associated Press, June 26, 2014 More than 960,000 New York residents signed up for insurance under the state’s new health plan marketplace during its first enrollment period, according to a state report issued Wednesday. The analysis shows that 55 percent of the individuals enrolled in Medicaid and 38 percent — or 371,000 people — signed up for private insurances …

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