Governor Rick Snyder (Michigan) has unveiled his plans for implementing one of the primary healthcare reforms from the Obama administration – the statewide affordable health insurance marketplace for consumers – by proposing legislation that would turn the task over to a non-profit organization. Snyder made the announcement in his first major speech about healthcare, in which he made a call for the forming of the MIHealth Marketplace. This would be a non-profit group that would supervise the sale of health insurance to small businesses struggling to be able to offer…
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New insurance guidelines are providing women with new healthcare opportunities
Many women are already singing the praises of the changes in the coverage regulations for women under the Obama administration’s Affordable Care Act. Since the Act went into effect, the following additional coverages for preventive services have been added for women, without deductible, co-insurance, or co-payments: • All forms of patient, sterilization procedures, and contraceptive methods that have Food and Drug Administration approval. • An annual “well-woman” preventive care visit for women. • HPV virus screening every three years for women over the age of 30. • A gestational diabetes…
Read MoreStates that do not meet federal deadlines may still have a chance to run health insurance exchanges
The federal government has been relenting on its once strict mandates regarding health insurance exchanges, namely on the deadlines given for states to establish such programs. Originally, states that rejected the notion of exchanges outright would relinquish this responsibility to the federal government, who would then run the exchanges. In this scenario, state officials would have no say in the practices of the exchange programs. Spurred by complaints over the lack of guidance from the government, however, the Obama administration is relenting on these strict mandates and giving states another…
Read MoreGovernment doles out millions to help states build health insurance Internet-based marketplaces
The nation continues is slow, arduous trek toward the inevitable establishment of health insurance exchanges. Until very recently, the federal government has been very lax in terms of enforcing the mandate established by the Affordable Care Act that requires each state to erect their own insurance exchange program. Officials with the Department of Health and Human Services had originally wanted to allow time for states to warm to the notion of the exchanges, but have only been met with lukewarm interest. In fact, the rate at which states are building…
Read MoreDepartment of Health and Human Services approves full coverage of birth control
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has released a statement that included new guidelines regarding the required full coverage of a number of women’s preventative services – such as voluntary sterilization and birth control – by health insurance companies from August 1, 2012 onward. Secretary Kathleen Sebelius from the HHS explained that the department’s decision was made as a part of the strategy from the Affordable Care Act to halt problems before they occur. In a press release, she said that the new coverage guidelines “are based…
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