Daily News Updates - Health Insurance News

New Business for Insurers, Pt.1 – More efficient and productive.

Parts of the economy are beginning to pick up already. According to the New York Times, the health insurance industry is gearing up for involvement in the Medicaid and SHIP programs. The democrats’ expansion of these federal programs is inevitable and some expect it very soon. As part of the stimulus, these programs are designed primarily to assist low-income children and adults who are having difficulty with health insurance/care. Health insurers are involved in this process and are in a prime situation to benefit. The trend is for increased contracting in order to administer these programs via private Medicaid plans.

The double-edged effect could prove to be a healthy one. On the one hand, health insurers benefit from more government funding for those programs. On the other hand, the industry will have to endure further cuts of government reimbursement made to these private Medicare plans. Even though government spending may go up a little, cost containment measures are being built in as well. A more efficient system with more health insurance/care delivered to our most extreme hard-pressed. So the health insurance/care industry may have to work a little harder for the paycheck, but that could be healthy too.

Other initiatives are in the oven also that will give boost the private health insurance industry, geared toward further reduction of the unacceptably high number of Americans having no health insurance. Extensive research is being done in order to project near-future prospects for the health industry. Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. have been instrumental in this endeavor and have just issued a report of their findings.

Continued…
November News...