health insurance plans

> The mystery that surrounded the sudden and unexplained departure of Lester Crawford shortly after his confirmation as FDA chief has cleared up. Crawford was charged yesterday with lying about the stocks he owned in companies regulated by the agency. Report

> A U.S. company operating several Chinese hospitals and clinics intends to offer high-deductible health insurance plans there. These would be the first such plans …

On Tuesday President Bush signed a bill requiring the four federal agencies in charge of healthcare--HHS, the Department of Defense, the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Office of Personnel Management--to share data amongst agencies and with beneficiaries. At a recent discussion on the subject, President Bush stated, "The fact is, if you have excellent information about quality, about service and about price, people make good decisions," according to The Washington Post. The …

The American College of Physicians is offering a new set of online quality measurement tools to its 120,000 members. They're designed to help physicians figure out and hopefully comply with 26 "starter set" measurements developed by the Ambulatory Care Quality Alliance, a joint effort of the ACP, the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP), America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). The starter measurements cover many of the top …

The debate over privacy rights and electronic medical records (EMRs) is heating up. After changes made this week, the Johnson-Deal bill looks as though it will probably not include protections designed to limit the ability of insurers and others to access patient records. That's led to controversy in Washington, where privacy rights groups are clashing with lobbyists representing health plans and other groups. A spokesman for America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) said that consumers …

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) said last week he wants to convene a summit to discuss ways in which the state can develop a new healthcare system that will offer assistance to residents unable to afford care. That's led to speculation that Schwarzenegger will propose some variant of the popular insurance reform plan developed by Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. It's probably not a coincidence that Romney (R) was in San Diego last week for the annual meeting of America's Health …

Addressing the annual meeting of America's Health Insurance Plans in San Diego, Governor Mitt Romney (R-MA) told insurers that they have a prominent role to play in his plan for health insurance reform in Massachusetts. Romney predicted that others will follow his state's lead in developing innovative solutions to the uninsurance problem. "Other states are going to learn from us," Romney said. That does indeed appear to be happening. The San Diego Union Tribune reports that earlier …

The trade group America's Health Insurance Plans released a study reporting that most hospitals, doctors and pharmacies are now sending claims to insurers electronically. According to the group, 74 percent of claims are now electronic, up sharply from 43 percent a decade ago. According to the New York Times, the trend "reflects the growing role of companies specializing in claims processing." The release of the AHIP study comes just after yesterday's mammoth Athenahealth …

A coalition of health plans led by Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association and America's Health Insurance Plans said it is launching a pilot program that will offer personal health records to consumers. The move appears likely to satisfy critics within the industry who have called for insurers to do more to encourage IT adoption. Privacy advocates, however, may be displeased by the implications of allowing insurers to share data on patient medical histories.

- read this article from Modern Healthcare

A new survey released by industry trade group America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) challenges the view that Medicare Part D is a disaster. The study, which was conducted by Alexandria, VA-based Ayres, McHenry & Associates found that 8 out of 10 seniors who enrolled in a Part D plan had no trouble doing so. Three out of five surveyed said they had saved money. "What seniors are saying is this program is working for them. It's making a difference," said AHIP President Karen …

A new insurance industry report finds that the number of people enrolled in high deductible, low-premium plans which qualify for health savings accounts has approximately tripled over the last ten months. America's Health Insurance Plans, the insurance industry trade group, calls that growth "a real success." About three million people are now signed up in variants of such plans. Total enrollment still represents a fraction of the number of those enrolled in conventional insurance plans …