Hello, and welcome to this installment of the Weekly Health Insurance News Roundup. We have three main stories to look at, the first being the New Jersey legislature taking a large step toward universal or mandated health care by signing bill S1557. S1557 would mandate health insurance coverage for children while also expanding New Jersey’s NJ Family Care health insurance plan. This would mean that low-income families will be ensured access to quality, affordable health insurance coverage.
Bill S1557 would also make individual health insurance plans more affordable by revising their rating systems, and would make the continued allowed dependant coverage eligible for dependants from thirty years old or younger. State governor Jon S. Corzine hopes to have everyone in the state insured by 2011. Personally, I think this is a huge step in the right direction. Maybe if we can’t get a national health care plan in place, states themselves can work on their own individual mandated plans. We’ll keep an eye on how successful this is and see if other states follow suit.
In our next somewhat related piece of news, a new group called Health Care for America Now (HCAN) launched a new, $40 million campaign to help all Americans access affordable health insurance and health care. Health Care for America Now is made up of over 100 organizations, and has received grants from MoveOn.org, the National Education Association and the Planned Parenthood Federation of America among others. The campaign wants whoever the new president is in 2009 to make universal, affordable health insurance their first order of business.
In a rallying event held simultaneously across the country, the campaign called for greater choice in the coverage between private and public health insurance plans as well as more federal regulation of the health insurance industry as a whole. With rising health insurance premiums, rising costs of health care in general and the rising costs of prescription drugs as well, businesses and organizations are finding it harder to offer health insurance coverage for their employees, and individual health insurance customers are having a harder time affording health insurance and health care due to the rising costs of living. Citing the health care and insurance system as “broken,” advocates of this program hope that an aggressive campaign will help convince presidential candidates and congress people alike that change is needed. Personally, I hope this works, because I like the idea behind it and think it’s quite noble.
The final story in today’s News Roundup has to do with a new device approved by the Food and Drug Administration from Intel. Called the “Intel Health Guide,” the device can be used by patients and doctors to communicate with each other about their health issues. Using the Internet, patients can use the device in their home to communicate with doctors, and the device can be connected to a wide range of monitoring apparatuses so that the doctor can monitor a patient’s condition while not even in their office. This gives both doctors and patients more flexibility in their own health care, but also gives them the responsibility of monitoring their condition as well, so it’s also hoped that this will unburden health insurance providers by putting this responsibility into the hands of patients and doctors.
That concludes this edition of the Weekly Health Insurance News Roundup. I hope you’ve found it useful and informative, and hope you have a happy and healthy day.
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New Jersey’s Push toward Universal Health Care, Intel’s New Health Device, and a New Health Care Reform Group Forms
Hello, and welcome to this installment of the Weekly Health Insurance News Roundup. We have three main stories to look at, the first being the New Jersey legislature taking a large step toward universal or mandated health care by signing bill S1557. S1557 would mandate health insurance coverage for children while also expanding New Jersey’s NJ Family Care health insurance plan. This would mean that low-income families will be ensured access to quality, affordable health insurance coverage.
Bill S1557 would also make individual health insurance plans more affordable by revising their rating systems, and would make the continued allowed dependant coverage eligible for dependants from thirty years old or younger. State governor Jon S. Corzine hopes to have everyone in the state insured by 2011. Personally, I think this is a huge step in the right direction. Maybe if we can’t get a national health care plan in place, states themselves can work on their own individual mandated plans. We’ll keep an eye on how successful this is and see if other states follow suit.
In our next somewhat related piece of news, a new group called Health Care for America Now (HCAN) launched a new, $40 million campaign to help all Americans access affordable health insurance and health care. Health Care for America Now is made up of over 100 organizations, and has received grants from MoveOn.org, the National Education Association and the Planned Parenthood Federation of America among others. The campaign wants whoever the new president is in 2009 to make universal, affordable health insurance their first order of business.
In a rallying event held simultaneously across the country, the campaign called for greater choice in the coverage between private and public health insurance plans as well as more federal regulation of the health insurance industry as a whole. With rising health insurance premiums, rising costs of health care in general and the rising costs of prescription drugs as well, businesses and organizations are finding it harder to offer health insurance coverage for their employees, and individual health insurance customers are having a harder time affording health insurance and health care due to the rising costs of living. Citing the health care and insurance system as “broken,” advocates of this program hope that an aggressive campaign will help convince presidential candidates and congress people alike that change is needed. Personally, I hope this works, because I like the idea behind it and think it’s quite noble.
The final story in today’s News Roundup has to do with a new device approved by the Food and Drug Administration from Intel. Called the “Intel Health Guide,” the device can be used by patients and doctors to communicate with each other about their health issues. Using the Internet, patients can use the device in their home to communicate with doctors, and the device can be connected to a wide range of monitoring apparatuses so that the doctor can monitor a patient’s condition while not even in their office. This gives both doctors and patients more flexibility in their own health care, but also gives them the responsibility of monitoring their condition as well, so it’s also hoped that this will unburden health insurance providers by putting this responsibility into the hands of patients and doctors.
That concludes this edition of the Weekly Health Insurance News Roundup. I hope you’ve found it useful and informative, and hope you have a happy and healthy day.
Other Health Insurance News Options:
Return to Articles Page.