Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, has embarked on a nationwide tour to help promote health care reform. Her first stop was the Daily Show with Jon Stewart on Monday night. The issue of reform has been one steeped in controversy since the passage of the Affordable Care Act in 2010. Consumers are leery of the changes being made to the health care system and those coming to the insurance industry. Sebelius suggests that this may be due to misinformation or misconceptions of the reform…
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Healthcare overhaul to bring health insurance to approximately 2.5 million more young adults
A new rule in the healthcare reform has made it possible for many young Americans to maintain their coverage under their parents’ plans, which will allow an additional 2.5 million people who are 25 years old or younger to be insured. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there was an increase in the percentage of insured individuals between the ages of 19 and 25 from 64 percent in June 2010 to 73 percent in September 2010. This rise is credited to the coverage provision of the…
Read MoreConnecticut health insurance exchange board comes under fire for being unfriendly to consumers
Connecticut’s plans for a health insurance exchange have hit turbulent waters. The state, which has supported the concept of an exchange program thus far, has unveiled the remaining members that will be overseeing the exchange program. Consumer groups had held on to hope that pro-consumer individuals would be added to the group of overseers as none had been included in the previous appointments made by Governor Dannel Malloy earlier in the year. Now, however, consumer groups have voiced their opposition of the latest appointments, saying that consumer interests are not…
Read MoreObama administration requests lower rate increase from health insurance company
The Obama administration has used a new tool from their healthcare overhaul to pressure a health insurer with intentions to increase its rates in Pennsylvania reduce the size of this hike. Department of Health and Human Services officials have announced that they feel that it was “unreasonable” for Everence Insurance Co. to plan a 12 percent increase in the rates for approximately 5,000 individuals employed by small businesses within the state. According to Kathleen Sebelius, the Health and Human Services Secretary, the intended rate increase was not adequately justified by…
Read MoreHealthcare work force receives $1 billion from Obama administration to boost its size
The Obama administration has announced that it will be offering a grant program worth $1 billion to provide medical organizations with the opportunity to hire, train, and implementation of new workers. According to an announcement from the administration, the grant program has been named the Health Care Innovation Challenge and has been created in order to discover “the most compelling new ideas to deliver better health, improved care and lower costs to people enrolled in Medicare, Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program.” Secretary of Health and Human Services, Kathleen…
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