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Category Archives: Health Care

President Obama’s tarnished health care law at a crossroads

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WASHINGTON All things good, bad and unpredictable converge with the new year for President Barack Obamas health care overhaul as the laws major benefits take effect, along with an unpopular insurance mandate and a risk of more nerve-wracking disruptions to coverage.

The changes bring big improvements for some, including Howard Kraft of Lincolnton, N.C. A painful spinal problem left him unable to work as a hotel bellman. But hes got coverage because federal law now forbids insurers from turning away people with health problems.

I am not one of these people getting a policy because Im being made to, Kraft said. I need one to stay alive.

Whats good for millions like Kraft is secured through what others see as an imposition: requiring virtually every American to get covered, either through an employer, a government program, or by buying a plan directly.

But the health care headlines early this year could come from continued unpredictable consequences of the insurance programs messy rollout.

The consumer-facing side of the HealthCare.gov website appears to be largely fixed with 2.1 million enrolled through federal and state websites. But on the back end, insurers say they are still receiving thousands of erroneous sign-ups from the government.

That means early in the year insured patients could go for a medication refill or turn up in the emergency room only to be told there is no record of their coverage.

One of the main worries is over certain error-tainted enrollment records that insurers call orphans and ghosts.

Orphans are sign-ups that the government has a record of, but they do not appear in insurer systems. Insurers say those customers never left the governments orphanage to go and live with the carrier they selected.

Ghosts are new customers that the insurer does have a record of, but mysteriously the information does not appear in the governments computers.

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President Obama’s tarnished health care law at a crossroads

Health care team expected to start soon

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Lake Cowichan residents provide feedback on the future of their health care during a July community meeting.

image credit: Tyson Jones/file

Cowichan Lake is about to get a whole lot healthier.

Island Health confirmed last week that the roughly 6,500 residents of Lake Cowichan and surrounding area are just a few weeks away from their promised primary health care team.

Enhanced primary health services through a primary health care team will begin providing programs and services in early 2014, the provincial health authority (formerly VIHA) announced in a press release.

The team will be located at the Kaatza Health Centre, 58 Cowichan Ave. West and will begin delivering services early in the new year.

A nurse practitioner has also been hired for the Cowichan Lake area. The nurse practitioner will begin practising at the Brookside Medical Clinic in the New Year.

This year we went from three doctors to zero, and in the New Year well have two full time doctors and however many doctors work out of the walk-in clinic and then the nurse practioner, Lake Cowichan Mayor Ross Forrest said.

The two new docs will have an international background, said the mayor.

Were also getting the two doctors through a return of service program, where international doctors do a course through (Vancouvers) St. Pauls Hospital and two year course at the U of Victoria that allows them to practise in Canada, he said.

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Health care team expected to start soon

Health care, tech and industrial stocks favoured in 2014

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Small-cap analysts at the Bank of America Merrill Lynch have a bias toward cyclical stocks in 2014.

Health care, technology and industrials are all rated overweight by BofAML heading into the new year. Health care and technology small caps in particular have an advantage because their valuations are considerably cheaper than industrials.

As we leave 2013, we are sticking with overweights to these groups, with both sectors attractive on a valuation basis, have very strong balance sheets and have been redeploying capital back to shareholders, the analysts said in a report. In addition, if M&A picks up next year, we think these two sectors will benefit.

But BofML reserved its favourite overweight for industrials, which it believes will especially benefit as economies around the world begin to register stronger economic growth.

The group does well when interest rates rise, will benefit from better economies outside of the U.S., and with the resurgence of manufacturing in the U.S., will also thrive, the analysts said.

But they add there are some downsides. As mentioned, valuations for industrial small-cap stocks are relatively high compared to the rest of the space, while many managers have overweight ratings on the group even though earnings revision trends have yet to show improvement.

The BofAML analysts also raise concerns about the health-care space, where they see a lot of lower-quality stocks.

Our biggest issue with health care is that it does make up a big portion of our low quality bucket and we think these stocks will lag behind in 2014, the analysts said.

As for the rest of the small-cap space, BofML rates energy, financial and material stocks as market weight, while they rate consumer stocks andutilitiesas underweight for next year.

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Health care, tech and industrial stocks favoured in 2014

Health care sign-ups soaring – Mon, 30 Dec 2013 PST

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HONOLULU A December surge propelled health care sign-ups through the governments rehabilitated website past the 1 million mark, the Obama administration said Sunday, reflecting new vigor for the problem-plagued federal insuranceexchange.

Of the more than 1.1 million people now enrolled, nearly 1 million signed up in December, with the majority coming days before a pre-Christmas deadline for coverage to start in January. Compare that with a paltry 27,000 in October, the federal websites first, error-prone month or 137,000 inNovember.

We experienced a welcome surge in enrollment as millions of Americans seek access to

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HONOLULU A December surge propelled health care sign-ups through the governments rehabilitated website past the 1 million mark, the Obama administration said Sunday, reflecting new vigor for the problem-plagued federal insuranceexchange.

Of the more than 1.1 million people now enrolled, nearly 1 million signed up in December, with the majority coming days before a pre-Christmas deadline for coverage to start in January. Compare that with a paltry 27,000 in October, the federal websites first, error-prone month or 137,000 inNovember.

We experienced a welcome surge in enrollment as millions of Americans seek access to affordable health care coverage, Marilyn Tavenner, the head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said in a blogpost.

The figures dont represent a full accounting for the country. They dont include December results from the 14 states running their own websites. Overall, states have been signing up more people than the federal government has. But most of that has come from high performers such as California, New York, Washington, Kentucky and Connecticut. Some states continue tostruggle.

Still, the end-of-year spike suggests that the federal exchange serving 36 states is starting to pull its weight. The windfall comes at a critical moment for President Barack Obamas sweeping health care law, which becomes real for many Americans on Jan. 1 as coverage through the exchanges and key patient protections kickin.

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Health care sign-ups soaring - Mon, 30 Dec 2013 PST

Federal health care sign-ups pass 1 million mark

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The government's rehabilitated health insurance website has seen a December surge in customer sign-ups, pushing enrollment past the 1 million mark, the Obama administration says.

Combined with numbers for state-run markets, that should put total enrollment in the new private insurance plans under President Barack Obama's health law at about 2 million people through the end of the year, independent experts said.

That would be about two-thirds of the administration's original goal of signing up 3.3 million by Dec. 31, a significant improvement given the technical problems that crippled the federal market during much of the fall. The overall goal remains to enroll 7 million people by March 31.

"It looks like current enrollment is around 2 million despite all the issues," said Dan Mendelson, CEO of Avalere Health, a market analysis firm. "It was a very impressive showing for December."

The administration said that of the more than 1.1 million people now enrolled in the federal insurance exchange, nearly 1 million signed up in December. The majority came days before a pre-Christmas deadline for coverage to start in January. Compare that with a paltry 27,000 in October, the federal website's first, error-prone month.

"We experienced a welcome surge in enrollment as millions of Americans seek access to affordable health care coverage," Marilyn Tavenner, the head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said in a blog post announcing the figures.

The numbers don't represent a full accounting for the country.

The federal website serves 36 states. Yet to be reported are December results from the 14 states running their own sites. Overall, states have been signing up more people than the federal government. But most of that has come from high performers such as California, New York, Washington state, Kentucky and Connecticut. Some states continue to struggle.

Still, the end-of-year spike suggests that the federal insurance marketplace is starting to pull its weight. The windfall comes at a critical moment for Obama's sweeping health care law, which becomes "real" for many Americans on Jan. 1 as coverage through the insurance exchanges and key patient protections kick in.

The administration's concern now shifts to keeping the momentum going for sign-ups, and heading off problems that could arise when people who've already enrolled try to use their new insurance.

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Federal health care sign-ups pass 1 million mark

Test of Historic Health Care Law Begins on Jan. 1

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Washington After three months of turmoil surrounding the rollout of President Obamas health care plan, the country faces a historic turning point on Jan. 1.

From emergency rooms to pharmacies to company human resources departments, changes will unfold within the U.S. health-care system as the nation guarantees insurance coverage to all Americans for the first time, a goal that has eluded presidents and lawmakers since the end of World War II.

Beginning with the New Year, insurance companies can no longer refuse to cover people because of sickness, charge them more than healthy customers or drop them when they fall ill. In return, most Americans are required to have a health plan. Some of the 19 million Americans who buy insurance on their own will find their new plans are more expensive with fewer treatment options than before as insurers seek to contain costs.

Millions of people will now be covered for the first time. Benefits will be expanded, Robert Zirkelbach, a spokesman for Americas Health Insurance Plans, the insurance industrys Washington lobby group, said in a phone interview. But these new benefits bring new costs.

About 1.1 million people selected health plans in time to have coverage in January using the federal enrollment system, which covers 36 states including Texas, Florida and Illinois, the Obama administration said Sunday. The government didnt say how many people paid for their plans, the final step to complete their enrollment.

Hospitals and doctors have been preparing for the insurance expansion promised by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act since its passage in 2010 by merging into larger institutions and redesigning the way they deliver care to take advantage of incentives in the law. The government has designated about 360 medical systems as accountable care organizations, entitling them to a share of any savings they can produce by streamlining care for patients in Medicare, the U.S. health program for the elderly.

Better coordination for elderly patients, the government hopes, will translate to a more efficient health system for all Americans as insurance coverage expands. That proposition is about to be put to the test.

Beginning Jan. 1, the law bars insurers from rejecting consumers who are sick or charging them more. In fact, companies will no longer ask about prospective customers health beyond the question of whether they smoke. It will be illegal for insurers to impose annual dollar limits on care, and they must cover a standard set of benefits nationwide.

People who are entering the market for the first time also will gain benefits required since 2010, including access to many preventive services without any out-of-pocket expense and full coverage of costly procedures such as colonoscopies and mammograms.

While the number of people initially affected by the expansion will be small, the law promises that Americans no longer need to fear losing health coverage should they leave their jobs.

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Test of Historic Health Care Law Begins on Jan. 1

Federal health care exceeds 1m signups

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By JOSH LEDERMAN and RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR/Associated Press/December 29, 2013

HONOLULU (AP) A December surge propelled health care sign-ups through the governments rehabilitated website past the 1 million mark, the Obama administration said Sunday, reflecting new vigor for the problem-plagued federal insurance market.

Combined with numbers for state-run markets due in January, that should put total enrollment in the new private insurance plans under President Barack Obamas health law at about 2 million people through the end of the year, independent experts said.

That would be about two-thirds of the administrations original goal of signing up 3.3 million by Dec. 31, a significant improvement given the technical problems that crippled the federal market during much of the fall. The overall goal remains to enroll 7 million people by March 31.

It looks like current enrollment is around 2 million despite all the issues, said Dan Mendelson, CEO of Avalere Health, a market analysis firm. It was a very impressive showing for December.

The administration said that of the more than 1.1 million people now enrolled in the federal insurance exchange, nearly 1 million signed up in December. The majority came days before a pre-Christmas deadline for coverage to start in January. Compare that with a paltry 27,000 in October, the federal websites first, error-prone month.

We experienced a welcome surge in enrollment as millions of Americans seek access to affordable health care coverage, Marilyn Tavenner, the head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said in a blog post announcing the figures.

The numbers dont represent a full accounting for the country.

The federal website serves 36 states. Yet to be reported are December results from the 14 states running their own sites. Overall, states have been signing up more people than the federal government. But most of that has come from high performers such as California, New York, Washington, Kentucky and Connecticut. Some states continue to struggle.

Still, the end-of-year spike suggests that the federal insurance marketplace is starting to pull its weight. The windfall comes at a critical moment for Obamas sweeping health care law, which becomes real for many Americans on Jan. 1 as coverage through the insurance exchanges and key patient protections kick in.

See the article here:

Federal health care exceeds 1m signups

62,153 Connecticut Residents Sign Up For Health Care Starting Jan. 1

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FAIRFIELD COUNTY, Conn. -- As of last week,62,153 Connecticut residents had enrolled in affordable health-care through Access Health CT for coverage beginning Jan. 1, the health exchange announced in a statement.

More than 6,700 Connecticut residents and small businesses enrolled for health-care coverage on Dec. 23, more than double prior enrollment results for a single day and the deadline for coverage starting Jan. 1.

Open enrollment continues through March 31.

Were delighted to have enrolled so many Connecticut residents in health care coverage for January 1st; however, our work is far from done, said Kevin Counihan, Access Health CT chief executive officer. Over the remaining three months of open enrollment, we will continue aggressive outreach to enroll even more consumers and small businesses in quality, affordable health care coverage.

Consumers who have already enrolled will receive an invoice from their insurance carriers that must be paid by Jan. 10 for coverage effective Jan. 1, Access Health said in a statement. After the premium payments are received by the carrier, new member materials, including identification cards and welcome packets, will be mailed. Any questions regarding coverage should be directed to the carrier company.

The open enrollment period for health care runs through March 31 so consumers still have time to compare plans and shop for coverage. Visit http://www.accesshealthct.com or call 1-855-805-HEALTH (4325) to speak with an Access Health CT representative.

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62,153 Connecticut Residents Sign Up For Health Care Starting Jan. 1


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