Harris Meyer

Many Americans face high out-of-pocket costs for life-saving drugs but those on Medicare are often worse off: There's no cap on coinsurance costs once they hit $6,550 in drug spending.

Health insurance companies will have to give their customers estimated out-of-pocket costs for prescription drugs and disclose to the public the negotiated prices they pay for drugs.

It's unclear whether Virginia Mason Health System would have to abide by Catholic doctrine in merging with CHI Franciscan, a Roman Catholic health system.

Republished with permission from Kaiser Health News

July 3, 2012 A fight between the Washington state insurance commissioner and the state’s largest seller of individual health insurance is spotlighting problems in that increasingly troubled market. The spat arose over insurers’ efforts to curb soaring premiums by restricting or eliminating prescription drug benefits.Experts say they haven’t yet seen similar moves by insurers in other states to axe drug coverage from policies sold in the individual market. But some predict expensive drug benefits will offer an inviting target.

February 21, 2012 -- Seven organizations will receive a total of $639 million in federal low-interest loans to launch new, consumer-governed health insurance plans in eight states, the federal government announced Tuesday.

This article was reprinted from www.kaiserhealthnews.org with permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Kaiser Health News, an editorially independent news service, is a program of the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan health care policy research organization unaffiliated with Kaiser Permanente.