Developments in the Highmark – West Penn Allegheny Health System proposed merger
According to documents just made public, two months before the state’s largest health insurer announced a deal to acquire West Penn, it advanced the financially troubled hospital network $25 million.
2.5 million young adults have gained health coverage since health care reform took effect
“The increase in coverage among 19- to 25-year-olds can be directly attributed to the Affordable Care Act’s new dependent coverage provision,” said a draft report from the Health and Human Services Department.
House bill poised for passage would ban insurance coverage for abortions in PA
The bill, sponsored by Rep. Donna Oberlander (R-Clarion) would prohibit insurance coverage of abortions for low-income people under health insurance exchanges that the federal health care law would establish in 2014.
Pennsylvania proceeds with state-run health insurance exchange
After months of study, the Corbett administration said Tuesday that it was moving forward with a key – and widely supported – option offered by the federal health-care overhaul: a state-run insurance exchange.
Numbers of uninsured affect care for those with coverage
A new study finds that having high numbers of uninsured residents in a region also increases the odds that people with insurance will have trouble accessing treatment and will be less satisfied with the care they get.
More quickly than expected, health care reform provision sent to Supreme Court
The Obama administration’s petition to the court was not due until November.
Health insurance companies have been sharply increasing premiums this year
The average annual premium for family coverage through an employer is 9 percent higher this year than last year.
Health Insurance coverage increases slightly
During the first three months of 2011, the percentage of uninsured dropped to 15.3 percent, that’s a slight improvement from the averages tabulated in 2010, when 16 percent of Americans were uninsured at the time of the survey
PA judge declares part of Obama’s health care reform plan unconstitutional
A U.S. District judge in Harrisburg ruled that the federal government’s power to regulate commerce did not give it the authority to compel individual citizens to purchase products against their will.
Health insurance hard to come by for unemployed
Health insurance coverage is proving to be more difficult to find after the elimination of a last-resort health insurance program.