Healthcare plans

Long-term care liability loss rates and claim severity are now at an eight-year high and could grow steadily into next year, according to Aon Global Risk Consulting’s “2012 Long-term care General Liability and Professional Liability Actuarial Analysis,” which was created in partnership with the American Health Care Association.

Insurance is labeled an early adopter of social media in a new report from the International Data Corporation (IDC), titled “2012 U.S. Social Media Trends by Vertical.” The banking industry was cited as being a late adopter.

Medical records that patients can access online may encourage more people to get recommended screening tests and immunizations, a new study suggests.

While insurers have a couple more years to prepare for the individual mandate and health exchanges, according to a new Gallup poll, effects of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act on 18- to-25-year-olds can already be seen.

The health care trust affiliated with the United Auto Workers named a former Stanford University official and Hewlett-Packard Co executive to manage its $54 billion in assets earmarked for retiree medical benefits.

Major changes are afoot for pilots and retirees at one of the world’s largest airlines as it continues to emerge from a November 29, 2011 Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing.

Life Insurance CFOs’ primary business concern is the current low interest rate environment, according to Towers Watson’s recent survey. However, according to the survey, they are more optimistic about improvements in their financial results.

The Supreme Court has agreed to review a Third Circuit ruling that could have a far reaching impact on how medical reimbursement provisions are used to recoup funds paid out by health plans.

As employee medical benefit costs escalate at double-digit levels worldwide, a new survey finds that wellness programs and health promotion strategies are gaining traction.

Although premenstrual syndrome is a well-known - if not well-understood - women's health condition, premenstrual dysphoric disorder is an even lesser-known related illness. PMDD is marked by many of the same symptoms as PMS - bloating, trouble sleeping and concentrating, irritability, headaches, backaches and food cravings - but to a more intense degree.

Patients who don't take their medication as prescribed is a billion-dollar problem, reports pharmacy benefit manager Express Scripts in its 2011 Drug Trend Report. Nonadherence to prescription medication cost the U.S. health care system $317.4 billion in 2011. And that's just for treating medical complications - not the cost of lost productivity - that could have been avoided if patients had taken their medication as prescribed. The report shows that for many therapy classes, less than 50% of patients take their medication as prescribed.

Think about the simple act of driving to work in the morning. It involves perhaps 500 separate decisions, yet when we arrive we are hardly aware that we made a single one.

Leading U.S. organizations are turning to prevention-based employee health benefits to improve workforce health and reduce health care costs. Yet, according to a survey released by Virgin HealthMiles, there's a critical awareness gap threatening that strategy's success.

If you are looking for an idea that can capture the attention of employers, consider helping them provide employees the means to bridge the gaps in their medical plan. I have identified five distinct gaps that, if addressed, can create a huge sales opportunity for group health agents.

Leading insurance carriers have withdrawn from the group long-term care insurance market, prompting employers to think twice about implementing new programs — are we witnessing the death throes of worksite LTC?

Now that the high court has upheld all Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act provisions pertaining to employers, the focus shifts to numerous compliance obligations and possible economic implications of fully implementing the health care reform law.

An impending showdown in Los Angeles pits Walmart against community activists who decry expansion plans by the world’s largest retailer in the nation’s second-largest city.

While the nation’s attention remains focused on legal and political fights over health care reform, including an imminent ruling on the matter by the Supreme Court, a consumer advocacy organization notes that an invisible tragedy continues to play out nationwide for uninsured families who struggle to get the health care they need. A report released last week by Families USA reveals that more than 26,000 Americans between the ages of 25 and 64 died prematurely in 2010 because they did not have health coverage.

In its annual review of employer attitudes toward health plans, J.D. Power and Associates finds that although fewer than 15% will drop health coverage altogether, close to half of companies are likely to shift health benefits to a private exchange model.

In its annual review of employer attitudes toward health plans, J.D. Power and Associates finds that although fewer than 15% will drop health coverage altogether, close to half of companies are likely to shift health benefits to a private exchange model.