Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield and the parent company of five Connecticut hospitals failed to reach a new contract deal by their midnight deadline, leading Hartford Hospital and four others to exit the network of the state’s largest insurer Wednesday.
insurance
Posted inHealth
What is this form? The explanation of benefits
Kathy Walsh’s job is to help Connecticut residents deal confusing parts of the health care and insurance system. And one common culprit is a form known as the “explanation of benefits.” Here’s how to understand it.
Posted inHealth
CT’s individual insurance market grew 55 percent under Obamacare
Data from the Connecticut Insurance Department show that more than half the people who bought their own health insurance last year have maintained their old policies. But more than 50,000 of them won’t be able to keep their health plans beyond this year, potentially setting up a repeat of last fall’s turmoil and frustration among people whose policies were discontinued.
Posted inHealth
Do public hearings influence what health insurance costs?
A Fairfield County couple traveled to Hartford in June to urge regulators not to let their son’s insurer raise its rates. A month later, the insurance department rejected the company’s proposal. But what role did the public hearing have in that decision? Not much, according to the department.
Posted inHealth, Politics
Ten things John McKinney thinks about health care
As governor, John McKinney said, he’d side more with consumers on insurance-related matters, privatize social services and ask state employees to accept less costly health insurance. He’s critical of Obamacare, but didn’t cite any specific ways he’d change how Connecticut handles it. And he cited personal experiences in explaining his views on certain issues, including physician-assisted suicide and the need to improve patient safety in hospitals.
Posted inHealth
Moms of children with mental illness share their pain, tell their stories, push for change
Their informal network helps them to get from each other what they say is almost impossible to find elsewhere, like help figuring out the right services for a teenager at risk of suicide. Now these mothers of children with mental illness are releasing a list of ideas they think will help improve mental health care in the state.
Posted inHealth
CT gets another insurer: Harvard Pilgrim Health Care
Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, a nonprofit Massachusetts company, said Thursday that it has received a license to begin selling coverage in the state.
Posted inHealth
Latest Obamacare confusion: Exchange plan provider networks
The rollout of the federal health law in Connecticut has been smoother than in many parts of the country, but it hasn’t been without hiccups. The latest one: finding providers who take the new coverage.
Posted inHealth
Access Health CT has 152,561 enrollees; not clear how many were uninsured
More than 150,000 Connecticut residents have signed up for private insurance plans sold through the state’s health insurance exchange and for Medicaid since Oct. 1, according to Access Health CT, the state’s exchange.
Posted inHealth
Obamacare Q&A: Exchange deadlines, insurance options and tax credits
What you need to know about the end of the 2014 open enrollment period, the insurance options you’ll have once it’s over, when you’ll face a penalty if you don’t get covered and the possibility of getting federal financial help buying a health plan outside the exchange.
Posted inHealth, Politics
Latest Obamacare tweak could revive CT debate on extending health plans
The federal government now says that people who renewed their health plans late last year to avoid having to buy new plans that comply with the federal health law can keep them for an extra two years — but only if their states allow it.
Posted inHealth
CT mental health clinics brace for state cuts tied to Obamacare
While Gov. Dannel P. Malloy has touted a proposal to increase spending on mental health services, agencies that run mental health and substance abuse clinics are bracing for more than $10 million in cuts to state grants starting July 1. And they say the cut could mean treating fewer people.
Posted inHealth
Access Health CT Spanish-language website to launch Friday
After months of delays, the Spanish-language website for Connecticut’s health insurance exchange is slated to be available Friday.
Posted inHealth
Questions and answers on the latest ACA delay
On Monday the Obama administration announced another delay in rolling out the Affordable Care Act, weakening the requirement to offer coverage next year for large employers and postponing it for smaller ones. Here’s what it means.
Posted inHealth
Obamacare employer mandate delayed again, for some
The Obama administration on Monday announced that the federal health law’s controversial employer mandate would be delayed again for mid-sized employers and that large companies would get a break on their coverage requirements next year.