Consumer Watchdog, a top consumer rights group from California, is working to divert the attention of the 2012 election away from the Obama administration’s health care overhaul in favor of a state ballot measure that seeks a public option, stricter premium oversight, and a rollback of 20 percent for insurance rates. The initiative by this Santa Monica-based group is aimed at the ballot in California in November 2012. Consumer Watchdog is the same group that brought about the landmark ballot measure in 1988, Proposition 103, which set cost and regulatory…
Read MoreTag: temporary health insurance
Report finds that 50 million people are uninsured and unable to receive coverage through COBRA
A new report from the Commonwealth Fund, a private foundation working to improve the performance of the nation’s health system, has found that 50 million Americans are without health insurance of any kind. The lack of coverage is linked to the economic recession of 2008, in which many businesses had to make cuts to staffing in order to stay afloat. As unemployment rose, so too did the rate of those without insurance as many no longer had access to employer health benefits. According to the report, most of these people…
Read MoreChicago state employees may see their health insurance contracts extended as legislators battle over authority
Public employees and retirees in Chicago may have their temporary health insurance plans extended a full year, pending the results of a legislative panel. Lawmakers will convene on August 16 to determine whether insurance coverage for state employees should be extended. The plans were initially issued by the state government to provide state employees with health care while legislative disputes raged on, threatening to leave them without any coverage. As the political disputes erupted, public employers were told that their insurance plans would continue for another 90 days while lawmakers…
Read MoreAnalysts: Enrollment in states’ pre-existing conditions insurance plans incredibly low
The health care reform law of 2010 is well known for a number of provisions that have succumb to a seemingly endless tide of controversy. These provisions generally garner the majority of public attention, but it is one provision that has been in effect for over a year now that may point to some fundamental flaws in the federal law. The provision in question is one that originally drew in public acclaim, but has since faded into obscurity. According to the law, each state must have a Pre-Existing Condition Insurance…
Read MoreNew Jersey: Government run health plan looking to close their doors
In New Jersey, hundreds of cities and school districts have saved a fortune by taking part in the state’s relatively unknown benefits program. For the past three years, an increasing number of people are dropping the insurance policies they bought from big name companies in favor of the state’s program. Some legislators are looking to change that by proposing a new bill that could severely inhibit the program. Stephen M. Sweeney, the State Senate president, is proposing legislation that would prohibit the state run insurance program from accepting new members.…
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