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Health insurer rate filings are up! And they ain’t pretty…

Posted November, 16 2011 by arianne

As promised, New York’s Department of Financial Services (DOFS) has posted copies of every health insurer’s rate applications on it’s website.  This is really a huge step in bringing transparency and accountability to the whole insurance rate review process, and for that we are extremely grateful. The downside (and this is really no surprise)…it ain’t […]

Medicaid, the Supreme Court, and the coersion theory.

Posted November, 15 2011 by arianne

Unless you’ve been sleeping under a rock (or perhaps in a tent down at Zucotti park) you’ve probably heard by now that the Supreme Court has decided to hear one of the cases challenging the health reform law.  Specifically, it will be looking at a few pieces of the law, including the requirement that everyone have […]

State orders health plans to refund $114.5 M in overcharges

Posted November, 10 2011 by arianne

Hooray for our tax dollars at work! Governor Cuomo announced yesterday that 11 of New York’s insurance plans would have to pay back $114.5 million to 573,748 New Yorkers who were overcharged for health insurance premiums based on a legal requirement that says that they have to spend at least 82 cents of every dollar on medical care versus […]

Knowledge is Power!

Posted November, 9 2011 by arianne

Photo courtesy of The Economic Times One of the consumer protections that President Obama cared about when designing the Affordable Care Act (ACA) was to require that all private health plans provide consumers with a short, easy-to-read Summary of Benefits and Coverage (SBC) form and a gossary so people can look up terms they don’t understand.  As benign as this would seem, insurance lobbyists […]