Health insurers in Oregon and Washington are trying to meet demand for more cost-effective products as the economy struggles and healthcare costs rise. In Washington, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Ill…
The recent renewal cycle was especially challenging for employers in the Carolinas, owing to the poor economy and new requirements under federal healthcare reform. Carriers continued to increase copay…
Commercial markets in Colorado and Nevada have been shaken up by expansion of HMOs and, in the case of Las Vegas, new market entrants. At the same time, local brokers say employers are not likely to s…
Uncertainty about the economy and the effects of health reform put a damper on the South's health insurance market. Commercial enrollment is essentially flat in Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and Ten…
Now that federal healthcare reform is passed, insurance companies and their regulators are turning their focus to immediate tasks, in particular setting up a high-risk pool for an estimated 5,000 indi…
Medicaid programs in the District of Columbia and Virginia are looking at ways to save money and adapt to changes mandated in the federal health reform law. The District is planning to shift the costs…
Value-based insurance designs, medical homes and Medicaid reform, as well as the federal health reform law, are affecting the healthcare landscape in Georgia, Louisiana and Alabama. Large employers in…
Health reform doesn't make its biggest splash until 2014, but health plans are getting their feet wet this year having to comply with numerous new mandates in the next 12 months. Among the most ch…
In an effort to curtail the growing cost of specialty drugs, Regence has developed a new benefit design with a standard and extended six-tier formulary that combines medical and prescription drug bene…
Through its full carve-out of the pharmacy benefit for Medicaid and CHIP, the Texas Health & Human Services Commission has saved billions of dollars through drug rebates. Texas' public-sector…
The Illinois and Iowa commercial health insurance markets took hits through much of 2009 as rising unemployment resulted in fewer insured residents. The issue was more severe in Illinois where the man…
Enrollment in Medicare Advantage continues to grow in the South though private-fee-for-service plans are leaving the market in anticipation of the Congressional mandate for network-based products in 2…
Group Health's governance as a nonprofit member-owned cooperative has attracted national attention recently as healthcare reform discussions in Washington DC look toward insurance cooperatives as…
Though Iowa has the second lowest health insurance premium rates nationwide, brokers and industry insiders warn that premiums, which went up 11 percent for many Iowa businesses over the last year, are…
With the economy hitting California hard, the pressure is on more than ever for health insurers to respond to the small employer group market, in particular, with plan designs that get the premiums do…