Medicare+Choice 2004 Non Renewing Plans by State & County

News Round the Web
1. Vitamins for Elderly Can Save on Healthcare Costs
2. More HealthSouth executives resign
3. California Governor Expected to Sign 'Pay or Play' Mandatory Healthcare Coverage Bill
4. The Next Phase of HIPAA: Security
5. Aetna Launches New Physician Network
6. Debate highlights health care as Prop 54 battleground issue
7. Employers' Health Costs Expected To Rise 12% Next Year, New Survey Says
8. Blue Cross looks to keep workers despite contract losses
9. Supreme Court's Recent ERISA Decisions Could Increase Health Plan Costs

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Consumer-Driven Training Kit

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1. Vitamins for Elderly Can Save on Healthcare Costs
Want to save health care dollars? Give vitamins to the elderly, a study published on Thursday suggests. The study, done on behalf of the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and Wyeth Consumer Health by health care consultant The Lewin Group, finds that vitamins could improve overall health, making elderly people less likely to need drugs or hospital care.
Reuters via Yahoo! News, October 2, 2003
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=571&ncid=571&e=1&u=/nm/20031002/hl_nm/health_vitamins_dc_2

2. More HealthSouth executives resign
The head of HealthSouth’s corporate compliance program — which failed to prevent the massive fraud that has embroiled the rehabilitation giant in controversy — has quit.
MSNBC, October 1, 2003
http://www.msnbc.com/news/974518.asp

3. California Governor Expected to Sign 'Pay or Play' Mandatory Healthcare Coverage Bill
Although Gov. Gray Davis refused to tip his hand Tuesday, there are growing indications that he will sign a far-reaching bill that would provide health care insurance to 1 million workers who cannot now afford policies.
Los Angeles Times via Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, October 1, 2003
http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/healthcare/nw/nw003704.php3

4. The Next Phase of HIPAA: Security
Many health plans, providers and health plan sponsors just recently managed compliance with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act's (HIPAA) privacy requirements, which became effective in April of this year. Now, these same plans and covered entities (CEs) must begin planning for the next phase of HIPAA -- the Security Rule-- which becomes effective in April 2005 (April 2006 for small plans).
Watson Wyatt, October 2003
http://www.watsonwyatt.com/us/pubs/insider/showarticle.asp?ArticleID=11853&Component=The+Insider

5. Aetna Launches New Physician Network
Aetna Inc. on Tuesday announced a new health care plan it says may cut employer costs while offering a large choice of doctors.
Miami Herald, September 30, 2003
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/6900875.htm

6. Debate highlights health care as Prop 54 battleground issue
Can a ballot initiative kill? Whittled to its rhetorical nub, that's the argument advanced by opponents of Proposition 54: passage of the measure on Oct. 7 would cripple California's ability to address racial disparities in health.
San Francisco Chronicle, September 30, 2003
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2003/09/30/state0321EDT0008.DTL

7. Employers' Health Costs Expected To Rise 12% Next Year, New Survey Says
Employers next year will pay an estimated 12% more for employee health care benefits, marking the fifth consecutive year of double-digit increases and a doubling of employer health care costs since 1999, according to a survey to be released Monday by Towers Perrin, the Wall Street Journal reports.
KaiserNetwork.org, September 29, 2003
http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=20084

 

8. Blue Cross looks to keep workers despite contract losses
The loss and reduction in lucrative government contracts has the state's largest private employer scrambling to save jobs.
Miami Herald, September 28, 2003
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/6883933.htm

 

9. Supreme Court's Recent ERISA Decisions Could Increase Health Plan Costs
Considering how few lawsuits reach the Supreme Court, it is remarkable that the nation's highest judicial body has ruled on four cases involving benefits questions in the past two years. Even more notable is that all four cases involved ERISA, and three verdicts went against health plan providers and, by proxy, employers.
BenefitNews.com, September 15, 2003
http://www.benefitnews.com/law/detail.cfm?id=5049

Source: CMS.