Event of interest
Colo. Nonprofit Association Leadership Luncheon
Health Care Reform in Colo.
What role will nonprofits play?
Wednesday, May 28
11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
Join
Bill Lindsay, chair of the 208 Commission, for a discussion on health
care reform. He will speak about the state of health care in Colorado,
the commission's recommendations to address shortfalls in
accessibility, implications of the Governor's Building Blocks for
Health Care Reform, next steps for nonprofits to consider, and what you
can do to make a difference.
Click here, for more information and to register.
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Stay tuned for info. about upcoming business health care forums in your community.
To
learn more about the Business Health Forum, visit us online, contact
Renee' Mowers at rmowers@bizhealthforum.org or call 303-866-9658.
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Dear Amy,
As
health insurance premiums continue to soar and Colorado examines
wide-scale health care reform, there has never been a more important
time for the business community to engage in the debate. The Forum is a
new project to help you connect the dots and weigh in on solutions.
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CoverColorado costs will likely hit employers
Colorado employers will likely pay higher insurance premiums next year
because of legislation - awaiting the governor's signature - that
affects a program providing care to some of the state's sickest
residents.
House Bill 1390, sponsored by Rep. Anne McGihon, D-Denver, creates a
new funding structure for CoverColorado, allowing it to assess insurers
for 25 percent of the cost of running the program. In 2009, the insurer
assessment is expected be $25 million, said CoverColorado Executive
Director Suzanne Bragg-Gamble.
CoverColorado offers insurance to
people with pre-existing conditions who have been denied coverage by
insurers. That includes, Bragg-Gamble said, employees who have lost
coverage at work but can't get coverage on their own because of
pre-existing conditions.
Health plans are expected to pass the assessment on to customers, many of which are businesses.
Under the new funding structure, 25 percent of the program's funding
will come from the unclaimed property trust fund; 50 percent from
premiums, grants and donations; and up to 25 percent from fees assessed
insurers. Before there was no limit on the amount the program could
assess insurers.
The last insurer assessments were made in May
2004, totaling $29.8 million or $26.37 per individual insured under a
health plan.
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Top health care news
Cost of government benefits for seniors up 24 % since 2000
The cost of government benefits for seniors soared to a record $27,289 per senior in 2007, according to a USA TODAY analysis.
That's a 24% increase above the inflation rate since 2000. Medical
costs are the biggest reason. Last year, for the first time, health
care and nursing homes cost the government more than Social Security
payments for seniors age 65 and older. The average Social Security
benefit per senior in 2007 was $13,184.
The federal government
spent $952 billion in 2007 on elderly benefits, up from $601 billion in
2000. It's the biggest function of the federal government. States
chipped in another $27 billion in 2007, mostly for nursing homes.
All three major senior programs - Social Security, Medicare and
Medicaid - experienced dramatically escalating costs that outstripped
inflation and the growth in the senior population. USA Today
Study: More than half of Americans on chronic medicines
For the first time, it appears that more than half of all insured
Americans are taking prescription medicines regularly for chronic
health problems, a study shows.
The most widely used drugs are
those to lower high blood pressure and cholesterol-problems often
linked to heart disease, obesity and diabetes. The numbers were
gathered last year by Medco Health Solutions Inc., which manages
prescription benefits for about one in five Americans.
Experts say
the data reflect not just worsening public health but better medicines
for chronic conditions and more aggressive treatment by doctors. For
example, more people are now taking blood pressure and
cholesterol-lowering medicines because they need them, said Dr. Daniel
W. Jones, president of the American Heart Association.
"Unless we
do things to change the way we're managing health in this country ...
things will get worse instead of getting better," predicted Jones, a
heart specialist and dean of the University of Mississippi's medical
school. Associated Press
Health plans say they'll risk losing members to protect margins
The
nation's largest publicly traded health plans say they don't plan to
temper premium increases for the sake of keeping members on their rolls
-- particularly not while they are under pressure from Wall Street over
what it sees as their disappointing earnings.
Wall Street analysts
were shaken over the long-term prospects of the health plan business
after bellwethers WellPoint and UnitedHealth Group, the nation's two
largest private-pay plans, reported less-than-expected profits from the
first three months of this year.
While no plan said its overall
membership has gone down, most say their risk-based commercial numbers
-- representing traditional employer health benefits -- are declining
or are not growing as quickly as anticipated. But health insurers say
cutting premiums or reducing the rate of increase to keep customers
would affect their bottom lines more than losing some members over
premium hikes. American Medical News
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