Thursday, July 02, 2009 PatientAssistance.com proposes a HOLI solution to health carePatientAssistance.com -- a nonprofit helping patients in need find patient assistance programs to make prescription medications more affordable -- understands the concerns of the uninsured and underinsured in the current health care system and proposes a new approach to health care reform.
The organization suggests Health plan Owned Life Insurance (HOLI) on top of improving health care efficiency standards to address the nation's growing health care costs. The plan would give health plan providers an incentive to lower up-front costs to patients with cost recovery Life Insurance proceeds and decreasing the risk for employers, government and insurance companies.
Patient Assistance supports plans to make the U.S. health care system more efficient - -cutting waste such as eliminating duplication, moving to electronic records, and eliminating cost shifting. However, those improvements won't fundamentally change the costs of health care. As those costs continue to rise, even more slowly, taxes will have to be increased to account for those higher costs. That's where new sources of added cost recovery revenue must fill a void, and Patient Assistance proposes a simple and low-cost insured solution.
An insured solution to health care reform would tackle the issue from both ends--bringing an influx of new income to health plans and medical providers to support innovation while cutting out-of-pocket expenses directly facing consumers. It would also increase the participation and profits of insurance companies who provide the HOLI cost recovery insurance. | Be the first to comment on this News | More in Employee Benefits | Send to a friend | Print | Save to Favorites |
Thursday, July 02, 2009 Market president of Regence BlueCross BlueShield Oregon namedRegence, the largest not-for-profit insurer in the Northwest/Intermountain Region, has named Jared Short as President of Regence BlueCross BlueShield of Oregon. Short's appointment is effective July 20, 2009.
Short is recognized as an established leader in the health care field with proven strengths in consumer directed health care, sales, marketing, research and finance.
During his previous tenure at Regence, Short provided critical leadership in the development of innovative programs designed to provide cost and quality information directly to Regence members, and to foster a community of health and wellness. At the time, this concept was relatively unknown in the industry and remains a cornerstone of Regence's efforts to increase transparency in the system. He returns to Regence from BlueCross BlueShield of Montana, where he was the Chief Marketing and Underwriting Officer. | Be the first to comment on this News | More in Sales and Marketing | Send to a friend | Print | Save to Favorites |
Thursday, July 02, 2009 Assurant Employee Benefits expands dental networkAssurant Employee Benefits, a leading marketer of life, disability and dental group employee benefits based in Kansas City, Mo., has expanded its PPO dental network by nearly 20 percent in 2009, placing it in the top three dental networks nationally.* The network now includes more than 112,000 referable locations nationwide, and is the largest network in four states: Colorado, Florida, Minnesota and Missouri.
The network increase comes at a time when customers are searching for cost savings due to the challenges posed by the current economic recession. Often cost savings can be recognized by customers using a dentist that participates in the network or is "in-network," rather than out-of-network.
The network expansion is the result of strategic partnerships and organic growth in its own PPO dental network, Dental Health Alliance, LLC(R) and is another example of the company's commitment to providing quality dental benefits. On April 1 of this year, the company celebrated the first anniversary of the Family Share Max dental plan. An industry first, this plan allows family members covered under the same plan to share or pool benefit maximums, as opposed to each having a traditional individual dental benefit maximum. | Be the first to comment on this News | More in Employee Benefits | Send to a friend | Print | Save to Favorites |
Thursday, July 02, 2009 Director of Business Development for its Medicare Set Aside namedRising Financial Solutions, LLC, a medical-financial management company and wholly-owned subsidiary of Rising Medical Solutions, Inc., is pleased to announce the appointment of Hany Abdelsayed as the Director of Business Development for its Medicare Set Aside (MSA) Administration services.
Abdelsayed joins Rising Financial Solutions (Rising) with nearly 20 years of claims handling and related Medicare Set Aside experience, most recently as Director of Sales for PMSI (formerly Health Advocates), a leading industry provider of MSA allocation services. A certified subject matter expert and instructor for the Insurance Education Association (IEA), Abdelsayed has been invited to speak on Medicare Secondary Payer Regulation by multiple insurance carriers, third party administrators, and adjuster associations across the country.
Abdelsayed's responsibilities at Rising include establishing and developing industry relationships associated with the delivery of Rising's MSA Professional Administration and Self-Administration Support offerings. Additionally, Abdelsayed will play a key role in the strategic sales, marketing, and operational efforts related to these solutions. | Be the first to comment on this News | More in Sales and Marketing | Send to a friend | Print | Save to Favorites |
Thursday, July 02, 2009 Governor Rendell unveils loan programs for state employeesGovernor Edward G. Rendell announced today that 10 Pennsylvania banks and credit unions will offer assistance to the 69,000 commonwealth employees whose paychecks may be delayed in the event of a prolonged budget impasse.
"I am extremely grateful to the institutions that have responded to our requests, acted in a socially responsible way and agreed to develop financial products to help eligible state employees cope with these potentially difficult circumstances," said Governor Rendell. "I also want to thank commonwealth employees for their unwavering dedication to serving the public."
The institutions offering assistance include: Citizen's Bank of Pennsylvania, PA State Employees Credit Union, Americhoice Federal Credit Union, Members 1st Federal Credit Union, Oil Country Federal Credit Union, Fulton Bank, Lafayette Ambassador Bank, Swineford National Bank, FNB Bank, N.A. and Orrstown Bank.
Governor Rendell also noted that each of these institutions has its own criteria for eligibility and participation, programs and interest rates in establishing low- and no-interest loans and lines of credit.
The General Assembly has not yet approved a budget for the new fiscal year that begins July 1. | Be the first to comment on this News | More in Investments | Send to a friend | Print | Save to Favorites |
Thursday, July 02, 2009 Job market unexpectedly worsens in JuneThe job market experienced a rough month in June, with employers cutting more jobs than expected for the month, according to a government report.
The U.S. saw a net loss of 467,000 jobs in June, up from a revised figure of 322,000 jobs the previous month. It marked the first increase in the number of job losses in four months.
Meanwhile, the unemployment rate increased for the ninth consecutive month, rising from 9.4 percent to 9.5 percent, a 26-year high.
Overall, almost 3.4 million jobs have been lost so far in 2009, after only 3.1 million were lost all of last year. | Be the first to comment on this News | More in Income Planning | Send to a friend | Print | Save to Favorites |
Thursday, July 02, 2009 California faces IOUs, as deficit growsCalifornia's economic troubles continue to cause problems, as the state may again be unable to pay its bills.
Unless the state's government can pass a balanced budget today, California will begin issuing IOUs to county agencies, small business and taxpayers who are already owed millions of dollars.
Officials continue to disagree on the best way to shore up the $24 billion deficit, with Governor Schwarzenegger desiring deep cuts in spending and increased borrowing, while Senate Democrats prefer tax increases and smaller cuts.
If a compromise isn't reached, the state controller may have to use IOUs to deal with the almost $3 billion July deficit.
According to state Controller John Chiang, "Unfortunately, the state's inability to balance its checkbook will now mean short-changing taxpayers, local governments and small business."
Finally, the state's deficit could reach $16.7 billion by October, according to a spokeswoman for the controller. | Be the first to comment on this News | More in Income Planning | Send to a friend | Print | Save to Favorites |
Thursday, July 02, 2009 Auto industry sales down in JuneThe majority of automakers reported disappointing U.S. sales for June.
General Motors reported that sales fell 33 percent year-over-year after the company filed for bankruptcy at the beginning of the month.
Meanwhile, Toyota Motor and Chrysler Group also saw significant sales declines, while Ford Motor was the only major automaker to report a drop that was better than expected.
There were some positive signs, with the seasonally adjusted sales rate in June declining slightly from 9.9 million in May to 9.7 million, marking the second best month of the year.
According to Tom Libby, president of the Society of Automotive Analysts, "I think we're gradually starting our way up. There's a lot of negatives right now -- two automakers in bankruptcy in June -- that when they move aside, there should be some help ahead on the horizon."
Finally, GM said that sales to consumers in the U.S. climbed 10 percent from last year, but fleet sales to customers like rental car companies plummeted 49 percent. | Be the first to comment on this News | More in Sales and Marketing | Send to a friend | Print | Save to Favorites |
Thursday, July 02, 2009 Report: SEC lawyer provided Madoff warningA Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) lawyer warned of irregularities at Bernard Madoff's financial management firm as early as 2004, according a report in the Washington Post.
The report says that Genevievette Walker-Lightfoot, a lawyer in the SEC's Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations, warned a supervisor by e-mail that information provided by Madoff during a review seemed suspicious.
She also reportedly provided a series of questions to present to his firm, several of which challenged actions by Madoff that eventually were revealed as elements of his enormous Ponzi scheme.
Despite warnings raised by SEC staff, the regulator was focused on the mutual fund industry at that time, according to the report.
Finally, SEC spokesman John Nester declined comment, saying an investigation by the agency's inspector general was ongoing. | Be the first to comment on this News | More in Investments | Send to a friend | Print | Save to Favorites |
Thursday, July 02, 2009 Treasury will name up to nine fund managers for PPIPThe Treasury Department is expected to name up to nine fund managers to operate the Public-Private Investment Program (PPIP) to remove toxic assets from banks.
As soon as today, the Treasury is expected to announce the roster of firms, which could include Allianz SE's Pacific Investment Management Co, or Pimco, BlackRock Inc, Wilbur Ross and Angelo Gordon &Co.
The program will use a combination of federal funds and private capital to purchase bank's toxic assets, part of the Obama administration's effort to bolster the banking sector by cleansing balance sheets in an effort to increase lending and securitization. | Be the first to comment on this News | More in Investments | Send to a friend | Print | Save to Favorites |
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