News

2010

June

15

• Employers to see 9% jump in 2011 medical costs. Companies that offer employee health insurance expect another steep jump in medical costs next year, and more will ask workers to share a bigger chunk of the expense, according to a new PricewaterhouseCoopers report. For

• Health insurers inaccurately process 20% of medical claims. One in five medical claims is processed inaccurately by commercial health insurers, often leaving physicians shortchanged, the American Medical Association reported Monday in its third annual assessment of insurers. This report card focused solely on

14

• New rules on changes to health benefits. The White House on Monday will issue new rules that strongly discourage employers from cutting health insurance benefits or increasing the costs of coverage to employees, administration officials say. The rules limit the changes that

13

• Vigilance is key to protecting your credit. If you're even slightly concerned about the privacy of your personal information, Jim Stickley is your worst nightmare. The chief technology officer of TraceSecurity, a risk management firm based in Louisiana, breaks into banks and

• Obama presses Congress to avoid Medicare pay cuts. President Obama on Saturday implored Congress to provide more aid to states and cities to blunt “the devastating economic impact of budget cuts” by local governments that imperil the jobs of teachers, the police, firefighters

12

• What to expect from health care benefits offerings. Right about now, as you’re dusting off your beach gear, may seem the wrong time to talk about next fall’s open enrollment for health insurance. But now is when big employers are busy

08

• Health insurance options for unemployed beyond COBRA. When you're out of work, you experience a lot of dark days, but for thousands of unemployed people, June 1 was particularly bleak. The economic stimulus bill signed into law in February 2009 subsidized 65% of COBRA premiums

07

• Doctors tack on fees for patients. A growing number of doctors across the country are boosting revenue by asking patients to pay new fees for services they say insurance doesn't cover, insurance and physicians' groups say. The extra payments include no-show

06

• Who's checking your credit report?. Dear Liz: As part of our mortgage refinance, my wife and I were provided copies of our credit reports and scores by the credit union making our loan. Our scores are great, ranging from 777 to 819,

05

• Insurers crack down on dependent coverage. To the list of letters that produce a groan when they arrive in your mailbox — a jury duty summons, past-due tax bills — add this one: a “dependent audit.” A dependent audit comes from your employer,

04

• Health care adversaries find need to collaborate. After squaring off as political foes for more than a year, the Obama administration and the health insurance industry have suddenly discovered that they need each other. Both have huge stakes in the success of

• Talk to relatives about caregiving before they need it. Before my grandfather died of cancer, I helped my grandmother care for him in their home. For more than a decade, I managed health care and other financial issues for my disabled brother until his

01

• More scrutiny for health insurers. Pounded by the Obama administration for raising premiums, health insurers now must reckon with a foursome of longtime industry watchdogs who are helping steer the federal government's effort to overhaul the private insurance market. The

May

27

• New breed of specialist steps in for family doctor. By the time Djigui Keita left the hospital for home, his follow-up appointment had been scheduled. Emergency health insurance was arranged until he could apply for public assistance. He knew about changes in his medication —

24

• Health-care law faces test as regulators settle rules. Now that Congress has imposed new requirements on health insurance plans, regulators are trying to resolve another big question: Which plans must comply with the requirements?

• Medical 'loss ratio' gaming begins. Few Americans know what a “medical loss ratio” is, but a fierce struggle over how to calculate it under the new health care reform law will determine how much insurers must spend on patient care

23

• Documents you need to save or purge while getting organized. Save it or toss it? It's a question we face whenever confronted with canceled checks, utility bills, ATM and credit card receipts, 401(k) statements — that mound of paper taking over our homes. If you're like

20

• Low-speed electric vehicles are low-safety. They look like souped-up golf carts and are often seen as an environmentally friendly way to get around the neighborhood or go grocery shopping. But they could also be death traps, according to a prominent

• Groups spar over black boxes in cars. A proposal to equip all new cars with "black boxes" to record crash data has emerged as a key point of dispute between the industry and safety groups as Congress weighs an expansive auto safety

• Financial regulation is stalled in Senate. Two Senate Democrats broke party ranks Wednesday to block an effort to wrap up debate on landmark legislation to overhaul the nation's financial regulation, potentially delaying passage. Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (Nev.) called for