insurers

Regence Denied Motion to Suspend PEBB Ruling

State employees currently insured by Regence will switch to Providence plans starting in October
September 14, 2009 -- With just two weeks before state employees can change their health plan provider, circumstances remain unchanged in the decision by the Public Employees Benefit Board to strip Regence BlueCross BlueShield of Oregon as one of their options. Read More >>

Enrollment Down, Profits Up for Oregon Insurers

Insurers are on pace to increase profits this year by 25 percent on higher premiums while fewer people have coverage
September 9, 2009 -- As premiums continue to rise unabated, Oregon insurers lost more than 21,000 members in the second quarter of 2009 – from April through June – representing a 1.2 percent decline compared to the first quarter of this year. Read More >>

Market Won't Solve Healthcare Without Public Option

Conservatives love market solutions, but healthcare has no hope of ever being an “efficient market." Here's why.
September 8, 2009 -- The September issue of The Atlantic has a feature article by David Goldhill, a business executive who lost his father due to a hospital error. Goldhill’s analysis of what’s wrong with the quality of our healthcare is impeccable, but not his solution. Read More >>

Industry Pressure Mounts on State Regulators

Lobbying to limit health insurance rate regulation extends beyond walls of the state capitol
September 3, 2009 – Armed with authority to peer deeper into health insurance balance sheets, the state agency that governs the industry faces intense lobbying pressure. Read More >>

Healthcare Charges Under the Knife

As healthcare reform swirls around who pays and not what they pay, health insurers point fingers at medical providers for charging exorbitant prices that few know are negotiable.
Originally at Miller-McCune.com
August 28, 2009 -- If you paid sticker price on the last new car you bought, you might expect to pay about 15 percent more than you would with some negotiating. If you paid full price on a recent knee surgery, you could pay 500 percent more than market rate. And who knew you could even negotiate? Read More >>

Rejections Increase as Policy Prohibition Nears

Individual rejection rates for pre-existing conditions continued to reach toward one-in-four who apply
The Lund Report
August 21, 2009 -- It’s a foregone conclusion these days that if any healthcare reform bill passes Congress this year it will end the practice of rejecting individuals for health insurance coverage because of pre-existing conditions. Until then, insurers are continuing to reject as usual. Read More >>

Prominent Insurance Executive Denounces Big Money

Former medical director of Oregon’s largest insurer has a few choice words for the health insurance industry at large
The Lund Report
August 18, 2009 -- I’ve been inside our health industry as the medical director for Oregon’s largest commercial insurer and have seen what happens when big money is involved, and public policy is crucial to future profits. Read More >>

Petition Drive Begins to Repeal 1 Percent Insurance Tax

If successful, voters would decide in 2010 whether to repeal a tax on insurance companies to subsidize low income adults and children
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August 7, 2009 -- Two men from Grants Pass have started gathering signatures to refer the 1 percent health insurance tax to voters. They filed petitions with the Secretary of State’s office after Governor Kulongoski signed into law House Bill 2116 earlier this week. Read More >>

Regence Sues Over Losing State Employee Contract

Regence refutes that Providence earns better marks
TheLundReport.org
July 31, 2009 -- Regence BlueCross BlueShield of Oregon refuses to accept defeat. The insurance giant has filed a lawsuit against the state of Oregon after losing a multi-million dollar contract to its competitor, Providence Health Plans. Read More >>

Battle Against Regence Rate Increase Continues

Attorney files legal exception setting stage for battle in Court of Appeals
ospirg.org
July 23, 2009 --  Advocates are just getting started on their year-long fight against state regulators who approved a 26 percent rate hike on individual policyholders of Regence BlueCross BlueShield last July.  Read More >>
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