Wendell Potter's Blog, page 27

Vermont Law Illuminates Claims Statistics

Consumers will benefit from understanding disparities among insurers. When you’re shopping for health insurance, wouldn’t it be great if you could find out every insurer’s claim denial rate?  And how much each one spent on lobbying and advertising—and how much they paid their CEO? You can now find all of that information and more if [...]

Medicare Advantage – or DISAdvantage?

Overpaid by federal government, private program may actually keep critically ill patients from from getting the coverage they need. If you’re being courted by a private insurance company to enroll in one of its Medicare Advantage plans, don’t sign on the bottom line until you’ve read a recent report by a researcher at the Center [...]

‘Limited Benefit’ Plans Are No Real Bargain

Insurers warn of premium hikes, but modest plans they’re pitching now don’t provide much coverage. Among insurance executives, Aetna CEO Mark Bertolini has been among the most vocal in warning of “premium rate shock” when major provisions of Obamacare kick in on January 1. “We’ve done all the math, we’ve shared it with all the [...]

Obamacare’s Help for Small Business

Tax credits will allow more modest employers to provide coverage. With April 15 approaching, some small business owners who provide health coverage to their workers are not going to be as indebted to Uncle Sam as they have in years past, thanks to Obamacare. That’s right, thanks to Obamacare. Mike Roach, owner of Paloma Clothing, [...]

Industry Pushes High-Deductible Insurance Plans

Claims of healthier living fall short. Those accustomed to obtaining health insurance through the workplace and choosing among different types of policies may be in for a rude surprise. Increasingly, employers of all sizes are eliminating choice and offering only high-deductible plans — euphemistically referred to in the insurance world as consumer-directed health plans or [...]

A Helping Hand For Rep. Marsha Blackburn

Industry insider Wendell Potter offers help get to the bottom of premium increases faced by Tennessee business owners. A twist of logic Fact 1: For a long time, health insurance companies have been hiking the premiums they charge small business each and every year. Fact 2: In many cases, increases have been in the double digits, [...]

Gaming Obamacare to Benefit the Few

Law asks many groups to help consumers ‘navigate’ choices, but brokers and agents want to save that business for themselves. We’re just a bit more than six months away from when Americans will have to begin making decisions about purchasing health insurance, but, according to a survey released last week, more than two-thirds of people [...]

Title of Congressional Hearing Said it All

At ‘Unaffordable’ hearing, House Majority lawmakers wanted to hear only that reform law makes health insurance unaffordable. I knew from the title of the Congressional hearing at which I was invited to testify last Friday – “Unaffordable: Impact of Obamacare on Americans’ Health Insurance” – that the lawmakers in charge would have little interest in [...]

Reform Will Help Level Premium Costs

Obamacare’ may make coverage more affordable for ill. Recently I was one of three witnesses to testify before a House committee hearing on whether the cost of health insurance will be higher or lower for people who cannot obtain it through their employer when important provisions of the Affordable Care Act go into effect in [...]

Taking Advantage of Medicare Advantage

Federal government has been overpaying private insurers. Facing government cuts to one of their cash cows—private Medicare plans—health insurance companies have launched a multi-pronged campaign, financed by the customer premiums, to persuade Congress to keep the cuts from going into effect next month. The industry’s big PR and lobbying group, America’s Health Insurance Plans, is [...]