Insurance firm Aviva has reported a 25% increase in the number of new health insurance policies taken out in the first three months of this year – as the NHS lists were lengthened and staff went on strike.
The Aviva boss was explicit in linking the rise in new policies to failings in the public health service.
The increase is “a consequence of what we’re seeing in the NHS and customers basically say that if they can take control over their health situation then they will,” chief executive Amanda Blanc said.
More individuals and companies are “attracted to the benefits…
family health insurance
Why Shouldn’t I Use an Online Will?
Online will often do more harm than good. Many people look to the internet when preparing estate planning documents, like wills and trusts, but this can set you up for disaster.
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Online will often ‘one size fits all’ documents that don’t account for your particular situation. Sometimes, they don’t account for the current laws in your state.
These documents may not even be legitimate and can lead to issues and misunderstandings…
Major Mass. health insurance provider says customer data was ‘copied and taken’ in cyberattack
A pair of major Massachusetts and New Hampshire health insurance companies are warning subscribers that a cybersecurity ransomware incident in March and April has compromised some members’ personal information.
Point32Health, the corporate parent of Harvard Pilgrim Health Care and Tufts Health Plan, said in April that the threat impacted systems that are used to service customers, accounts, brokers, and providers, officials said. It proactively took certain systems offline to contain the threat out of an “abundance of caution” after “detecting an unauthorized party.”
“Unfortunately, the investigation identified signs that data was copied and taken from our Harvard Pilgrim systems from…
NC Senate budget revives Medicaid expansion debate, putting law in ‘conflict’ with House
The Senate budget unveiled Monday cuts state laws that regulate hospital competition, placing Medicaid expansion, and health coverage for thousands of low-income North Carolinaians, in conflict.
During last year’s Medicaid expansion negotiations, a key agreement between the House and the Senate was Certificate of Need laws, which limit where hospitals, clinics and other health care facilities can be built. The Senate wanted to pass expansion with Certificate of Need changes but the House did not.
But this year, there was a breakthrough, and in early March, the Senate and House announced that they had reached a compromise deal: Medicaid expansion…
Major Jon Mitchell presents over $500 million budget, urges health, pension cost reform
NEW BEDFORD – Mayor Jon Mitchell presented a city budget to the council Wednesday that topped half a billion dollars.
The totals: $513,169,319.
And by far the largest portion of that is the general fund, which comes in at $458,910,392.
It’s the general fund that includes schools, public safety, and city government.
It also includes health insurance, pensions, mandatory assessments and debt services.
Mitchell was optimistic about the city’s financial future while cautioning that new budget tactics are needed.
He said it’s time to stop “ignoring the elephant in the room” which is rising healthcare and pension costs.
“Over many…
assistive technology
Overview
Assistive technology enables people to live healthy, productive, independent, and diagnosed lives, and to participate in education, the labor market and civic life. Assistive technology reduces the need for formal health and support services, long-term care and the work of caregivers. Without assistive technology, people are often excluded, isolated, and locked into poverty, which increases the impact of disease and disability on a person, their family, and society.
Who can benefit from assistive technology?
People who most need assistive technology include:
people with disabilities
older people
people with non-communicable diseases such as diabetes and stroke
people with mental health…
State alleges Health Partners illegally denied mental health coverage, says the company is cooperating
Updated: 2:00 p.m
Minnesota officials hit Bloomington-based insurance and health care company Health Partners with a consent order for allegedly violating laws related to mental health parity.
State and federal laws prohibit health insurance companies from evaluating mental health diagnoses or treatments more stringently than they do for other forms of care.
“This is one example of our commitment to enforcing mental health parity laws and making sure that Minnesotans can get access to the coverage that they’ve paid for,” said Commerce Commissioner Grace Arnold. “We want to make sure that people have fewer barriers, and this is a way…
“High performance network” health care insurance plans to leave patients with unexpected medical debt
A Tennessee family faced a potentially catastrophic situation when Joe Smith — a husband and father of four — was diagnosed with a brain aneurysm. Smith, of Chattanooga, had health insurance through his job with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois, but the insurance company refused to pay for the surgery necessary to prevent a life-threatening rupture.
“We knew that he kind of had this ticking time bomb in his head,” Stacie Smith, Joe’s wife, said.
The insurer claimed that the neurosurgeon that Smith’s family had chosen was out of the network, and the plan had no coverage for out-of-network…