News tagged with 'Insurance Industry'

President Obama makes his final push for health care reform as insurers are emboldened to enact large premium hikes.

The president of WellPoint Insurance faced Indiana lawmakers to answer why some individual premiums rose up to 38 percent at a time of record profits and executive bonuses.

The insurance lobby has been very busy spending millions to craft health care reform that preserves profits for the industry.

With a Senate Finance Committee vote looming on the Sen. Bacus reform plan, the insurance industry has quit the pretense of working cooperatively, and has issues an ominous report that costs will rise for all Americans.

Remote Area Medical delivers health care to the underinsured and uninsured, about 47 million Americans, one visit at a time. This week it is the Los Angeles area, where people began lining up at 3 a.m. for everything from eye glasses to chest x-rays, in a scene reminiscent of a Third World nation.

Canadas has found one important way to keep down the cost of health care - their medical malpractice insurance comes from nonprofit companies, not for-profit as in the U.S.

Health care reform should not include limiting the liability of dangerous doctors and unsafe hospitals, finds this study done by groups dedicated to preserving the civil justice system.  Medical malpractice claims have fallen like a rock creating record profits for the insurance industry, not lower premiums. 

Health care reform in the U.S. is heating up with three bills being considered by Congress and President Obama addressing the nation tonight. Requiring everyone to purchase insurance is a common thread, while a system that eliminates insurance companies as middle men is advocated by many physicians, including the president's former physician. 

Big Insurance has issued a strong statement opposing the public health insurance option. In a letter to Sen. Edward Kennedy, the companies say a public plan would dismantle employer-based coverage. Meanwhile, an insurance whistleblower will testify Wednesday about the abuses he's seen by insurance executives at the expense of consumers. 

Many Americans are facing financial ruins due to high medical bills. A new study published in The Journal of American Medicine, finds more than 60 percent of personal bankruptcies in the U.S. are the result of medical bills.

Five protestors were taken into custody at the Senate Finance Committee hearings today trying to address health care reform. Charged with Disruption of Congress, they were advocating a single-payer system, still largely misunderstood.  The insurance industry is a firm opponent. 

The only agreement in recent years has been that health care costs are not sustainable and cannot continue to rise.  Look to efficiency to be the buzzword as the Obama administration meets with a wide range of players on how to trim $2 trillion from the U.S. health care system over the next 10 years. 

Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, a senior member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, has called for an inquiry to examine AIG’s handling of denied and delayed insurance claims for civilian contractors injured in Iraq and Afghanistan.

What consumers need to watch out for is contained in this, the fourth in a series of reports on the "Tricks of the Trade" behind the multi-trillion dollar insurance industry. The sick and vulnerable are often the victims of denied or cancelled policies.