Health care reforms hit a wall with the Georgia Governor

Health care reforms Nathan Deal Georgia Governor

Gov. Nathan Deal has rejected the opportunity to have a state-run insurance exchange. Governor Nathan Deal of Georgia has made the insurance news announcement regarding the health care reforms in the state, and that they will not be building or implementing their own health plan exchange to comply with the Affordable Care Act. The governor has said that lack of flexibility, unknown costs and lack of state control made his decision. Though the Supreme Court said that states could opt out of the expansion of their Medicaid programs, they upheld…

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Pre existing condition health insurance reduces HIV drug wait list

health insurance drug Coverage

Plan cuts the waiting time significantly. Georgia’s wait list statistics in January was the longest in the country for individuals who needed government pre existing condition health insurance drug assistance for HIV. Back then, there were 1,348 people in the state who wanted to enroll in the AIDS Drug Assistance Program. Today, despite the fact that less than six months have passed, the wait list for ADAP has been reduced to about a third of its previous length, at 490 people (as of June 7, 2012). The program is designed…

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Georgia launches panel to investigate the virtues of a health insurance exchange

Georgia is outspoken in its opposition to the federal health care reform, as are many other Southern states. Despite the efforts of these states to have the law declared unconstitutional, the law remains in place and states are still required to establish health insurance exchange programs. Unwilling to allow the federal government to take charge of the exchange if it cannot make the 2014 deadline, Georgia has launched a new panel of insurance experts and legislators to explore how an exchange would serve the people of the state. In terms…

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Georgia receives waiver for medical loss ratio provision of the Affordable Care Act

While many provisions of the Affordable Care Act have been submerged in controversy, one provision, in particular, has garnered the ire of the insurance industry. The new federal law requires all health insurers to spend at least 80% of the money the collect from premiums on improving medical care for patients. If insurers cannot meet the standard, they are required to return the money to policyholders. This single provision has major financial implications on the nation’s insurers, both big and small. Insurers have been petitioning state lawmakers to obtain a…

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Almost 20 percent of Californians don’t have health insurance

New statistics released by the U.S. Census have shown that many Californians are going without health insurance, as almost one in every five did not have this coverage within the last three years. This is one of the highest rates of uninsured individuals in the country. According to the census, from 2008 through 2010, 18.9 percent of the residents of California – nearly 7 million people – did not have any form of healthcare coverage. The same census showed that the national average during that same period was 15.8 percent.…

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