A Smattering of Health Insurance News from Around the Nation
Greetings, and welcome to this issue of our Health Insurance News Roundup. This installment doesn't so much have a theme, as there really wasn't a consistent one in the news I read for this issue. Rather, we'll look at various health insurance news tidbits of interest from around the nation.
The first article of interest comes from The New York Times. In an article entitled, "S.E.C. Backs Health Care Balloting," author Robert Pear details how the Securities and Exchange Commission has over the last several months told several companies -- such as Boeing, General Motors, Wendy's International and others -- that they can't omit a proposal for universal health care from the proxy materials they give to shareholders for their consideration. This has met with resistance by many companies who feel that affordable health insurance coverage isn't something that shareholders should vote on. However, many companies have tried to work in the commissions demands in order to take a broader look at this divisive issue.
Several states signed new legislation into laws that would affect health insurance policies in their states. According to Fosters.com, New Hampshire governor John Lynch signed a new "HealthFirst" initiative that would offer businesses a standard wellness plan for up to fifty employers. Florida signed into law the legislation that allows low-cost health plan for state residents that we've discussed previously, Finally, Kansas signed a new health insurance reform bill into law that expands Medicaid coverage and their state's program for providing health care to children called HealthWave.
According to an article on eMaxHealth, Iowa leads the nation in providing health care to children. The top five states, scored by the Commonwealth Fund, include Iowa, Vermont, Maine, Massachusetts and New Hampshire. The authors of the report go on to say that millions more children would have adequate health coverage if they followed the examples of these five states. Proponents cited the Iowa's HAWK-I health insurance system that provides coverage to children for lower income families, a parental care program, screening programs and more as some of the reasons why Iowa and other states ranked so well. Maybe it would be wise for other states to look at Iowa and the other states mentioned in order to improve their own health care systems.
Senate Candidate Tom Allen is promoting his own universal health insurance plan he calls the "Healthy Americans Program." According to WCSH6.com in Portland, Oregon, Allen's one-hundred billion dollar a year plan, the plan would grant the self-employed and those in small companies the opportunity to purchase cheap health insurance if they desired, but those with current coverage could keep it. Allen says the program could be funded by withdrawing troops from Iraq, eliminating tax breaks for oil companies and reductions in Medicaid overpayments. Sounds something like "out of the box" thinking, which I'm always a fan of, but we'll see if the senatorial candidate can pull it off if elected.
Now, turning to more national health insurance news, U.S. News & World Report have a couple articles of interest this week. First, in an article entitled, "The Limited Appeal of Limited-Benefit Insurance," author Michelle Andrews takes a fairly negative view on Florida's recent bill to give low-cost health insurance plans to lower income residents. She takes issue with the fact that these plans won't cover most issues or expenses if a patient really gets sick, needs surgery or gets emergency care, meaning that customers will pay more if they get sick than they would if they had a more expensive plan that offered more coverage. The article raises good points, but personally I think this bill is, at the very least, a step in the right direction.
The next article in U.S. News & World Report is entitled, "More Young People Going Without Health Insurance." In this article, author Ed Edelson describes how nearly fourteen million young people in the U.S. are without health insurance coverage due to the high costs and transition periods in which young people are dropped from their parent's coverage (due to either turning nineteen or graduating college). The largest reason for this discrepancy was the cost of health insurance itself, which then causes young people to accrue exceedingly large medical bills if they're hurt or they get sick. The article then goes on to say that several states are doing something about it, extending the coverage of young people to well past eighteen or nineteen. For example, Delaware, Indiana and South Dakota extend coverage up to age twenty-four, while New Jersey extends coverage up to age thirty. While it's good to see something being done, this kind of issue should also be looked at whenever any type of universal health coverage is discussed. It's good to see individual states take up the gauntlet in this issue, but more can be done.
Our final story today is a bit different than usual, but I thought it was interesting enough to include. According to an article in The Christian Post entitled, "Many Pastors 'On Their Own' for Health Insurance," author Jennifer Riley discusses how over eighty percent of pastors in the United States have to provide their own health insurance policies with "little or no help from their church or denomination." Many pastors say they receive health insurance from their spouse's employer, a second job, or go without coverage entirely. I find this interesting because in a way, it's a microcosm of what's happening across the countries to people of all religions and faiths. Health insurance isn't affordable for most people, which cause its own set of problems.
That wraps up our weekly Health Insurance News Roundup. I hope you've found these snippets informative and enjoyable, and I also hope you have a happy and healthy day.
