Healthcare

[IMGCAP(1)] NEW YORK | Mon Jan 23, 2012 9:42am EST (Reuters) - When your health insurance provider denies an experimental treatment or a high-cost drug, how much are you willing to pay for the care you believe you need? Barby Ingle, a former cheerleading and dance coach at Washington University who now lives in a Phoenix suburb, has been forced to face this question. …

The fourth annual study identifying the top U.S. health systems based was released yesterday by Thomson Reuters, which culled data from more than 300 organizations and singled out 15 hospital systems that achieved superior clinical outcomes based on a composite score of eight measures of quality, patient perception of care and efficiency.

The Obama administration said last week that 28 states have taken steps to establish insurance exchanges under the 2010 health care law, despite the legal and political uncertainties threatening the overhaul.

Thursday morning, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius addressed a ballroom in Washington, D.C. of more than 200 people invested in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

Express Scripts’ clients, including employers, have seen minimal disruption since Walgreens left its network earlier this month, says Brian Henry, ESI’s senior director of public affairs. In this Q&A, he sits down with EBN to discuss what efforts the company has made to make the transition easier since Walgreens announced last June it would be leaving.

Paycheck a little lighter this month? Despite the extension of the payroll tax cut, taxes are still taking a bigger slice of many workers' pay in 2012. And 2013 could be even worse.

Providers of health insurance face a momentous set of challenges in the coming years, a new report from Aite Group finds.

Only 25% of plan sponsors with 100 or more employees and plan assets between $5 million and $500 million partner with a professional adviser, according to a recent report from The Retirement Advisor Council. The study demonstra

If the health care law is implemented without the individual mandate insurance premiums would rise by as much as 25%, according to a new report by the Urban Institute Health Policy.

What could pediatrician appointments possibly have to do with Joe Merrick's business as an online precious metals dealer? When it comes to health insurance, the answer is everything. The 13 full-time employees of Merrick's Dallas-based Provident Metals have 30 children, all under the age of 15, with four babies born in 2011 alone. That means potentially high medical bills for everything from childbirth to vaccinations, which Merrick had to factor into his health-insurance decisions.