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UPDATE UPDATE: the House voted in favor of the SCHIP expansion 289 to 139.

ORIGINAL POST:

We're only two weeks into the new year, and legislative policy is already in full swing

Democrats in the House of representatives is scheduled to vote on a bill to expand Health Insurance Program for children of State (SCHIP) -. and with the heavy majority, will almost certainly approve.

Bill, similar to bills vetoed by outgoing President George W. Bush in 07, will expand coverage to about 4.1 million children, reported Washington post .

under Article Post, the bill will cost about $ 33 billion - paid mainly by an increase in the federal cigarette tax 61 percent

So here come the political ...

Susan Gates ,. a lawyer for the group defending the rights of children, the Children's Defense Fund, sought to criticize President-elect Barack Obama for his lack of universalism.

"This is certainly not the promise to cover all children that the elected president ran on," Gates said, noting the bill still leave some 5 million children discovered.

Republicans in the House put their two cents in as well.

A letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi and President-elect Obama, signed by 112 House GOP members, said their concerns about the SCHIP bill.

They are more concerned that the legislation will threaten private health insurance, Medicaid come with large budget deficits, and will allow immigrants to enter the program, wrote the post.

After almost guaranteed approval in the House, the bill could pass the US Senate for a vote, where it is also likely to pass.

it is difficult to see how this time SCHIP expansion is not all the way through.

all thought?

There had a big news week in the health care industry and health insurance, and we were behind, so let's go for speed.

former Senator Tom Daschle, who was the candidate of President Obama for secretary of health and human rights, withdrew its account name after being unable to overcome pressure 140.000 $ to arrears of unpaid taxes, reported The New York Times .

Daschle, whose output is considered by most as a blow to the campaign for the reform of health care, has also resigned as director of the Office of the White House health reform.

So, who is now in the running to take the place of Daschle? Names rumors include Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm, Kansas Governor Kathleen Sibelius, Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell and former Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber.

Look for President Obama to try to fill the vacancy soon put this political victim behind him quickly as possible.

In other news from the medical industry, President Obama hopes the country talking about the new expansion of the State Children Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). He signed the bill passed by both houses of Congress on Wednesday reported USA Today .

The bill will extend coverage to about 4 million children, and cost the government around $ 32.8 billion in total, paid for by increasing taxes on federal cigarettes.

Republicans in the Senate were more unhappy with the provision of the bill that took away the five-year waiting period for legal immigrants to enroll in SCHIP.

Finally, President Obama has formally repealed the rules of former President Bush that limited state governments to expand their SCHIP programs. Find memo from President Obama to lift the rules here.

Health insurance and health care reform health is certainly the topic of the moment - President Barack Obama has broad reform goals in his sights and Medicare is a top target

for a while now, Democrats lawmakers sought to reduce the amount the government pays private health insurance companies that provide. replacement Medicare coverage, such as Medicare Advantage.

Medicare Advantage plans provide eligible Americans the opportunity to receive their health benefits through a private insurer rather than the government.

But recent research has found insurers get paid about 14 percent more than what the government spends on regular people Medicare Parts A and B, for example.

This is why it is a target for Democrats, who want to reduce payments to Medicare Advantage to save money and redirect to other health reform efforts.

According to Wall Street Journal , which is exactly what President Obama has in mind. The president wants to cut some $ 117 billion over the next decade these Medicare Advantage plans.

Obviously, the health industry is not so much to support such deep cuts. They argue it will lead to higher premiums, cut benefits or abandonment of certain geographic markets completely, writes the Journal.

But Democrats argue the higher payments are not needed and the money could be better used.

So, firstly, we have Medicare Advantage plans that offer several times more personalized coverage and lower cost option for older Americans. On the other hand, we inflated payments that could be reduced to provide more additional health reform funding.

Let the debate begin.

This morning in Chicago, President Obama spoke to the American Medical Association 158th annual meeting about, guess what, healthcare and reform of health insurance.

covered the president a lot of ground in his speech nearly an hour, touching its main views on reform, but endearing. each available with physician interaction

here are some of the most remarkable parts of his speech:

• Cut Medicare Advantage payments . This was a turning point for the bonding health insurance industry in reform. President Obama wants a more competitive market for Medicare Advantage and sees $ 177 billion in savings over 10 years if Advantage plans are paid similarly to traditional Medicare coverage.
• Medical malpractice . Traditionally, one of the biggest no-no for Democrats on healthcare reform was the reform of medical malpractice. It was a battle between doctors who believe they are vulnerable to unfair prosecution and politicians who believe consumers are vulnerable to poor doctors. President Obama is playing both sides of the fence in one direction, saying it is against price cap malpractice, it is fine to reduce lawsuits.

  But medical malpractice is a double-edged sword. Because doctors can be sued if they do not play, many are called "defensive medicine," or order up a lot of expensive health care treatments, even if they are not needed. So while defensive medicine helps protect doctors against prosecution, it drives up the overall cost of health care.

• A public health insurance plan . Doctors fear a public plan that would provide Medicare payments as health providers, but President Obama argued that a public plan would reduce long-term costs and without it, the costs of health care increasingly detrimental payments doctor anyway.

Another key element of this speech was, well, he addressed WADA to all. The president was clear that he wanted to keep all parties, associations of physicians included in the conversation and the debate on reform.

And most reports completed after the speech said the president was quite well received by the physician group. How all this opening support Obama and other health reformers on Capitol Hill is still a big question unanswered.

For more information and to see the speech, see this article in the New York Times.

In a letter to the White House and Congress, Wal-Mart CEO Mike Duke approved a "mandate of the employer is fair and broad in its coverage," reports the New York Times . Wal-Mart, the largest employer private country, has long resisted a group health insurance mandate.

This new position stunned more than a few people. Not to mention the letter was co-signed by the service employees international Union and the liberal think tank Center for American Progress in. - Strange companions for a company with an embattled history with unions and a reputation for being stingy with benefits

Now that the reform of health care is more more certain, companies are beginning to jockey for a seat at the negotiating table. Or as Rahm Emanuel said, "Everyone is trying to get their seat on the train," adding that other leaders also expressed support for the idea of ​​requiring employers to provide their workers the Health Insurance.

The tide is turning without any doubt. A pharmaceutical company salesman recently promised to reduce the costs of prescription drugs by $ 80 billion over the next decade. Hospitals have a similar agreement to reduce costs in the works.

What Wal-Mart negotiation for approval of a health insurance mandate? A guarantee that the costs of health care will be contained by what is called a trigger mechanism. They would like to see a system in place that the scope of automatic cuts if certain spending targets are not met.

Sit in the front row, ladies and gentlemen, the next round promises to be even more intense.

This weekend, the nation's governors gathered in Mississippi to talk about the imminent health insurance and federal health care reform bill and how it will affect the states.

the biggest concern for governors after the meeting was a provision that would increase Medicaid eligibility, reported New York Times .

in the reform project that is under consideration in the US House of Representatives, Medicaid would be expanded to accept Americans who earn 133 percent of the federal poverty level, and newborns no other insurance coverage.

While the increase seems to be small compared to say, the Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), it would still add about 11 million people on the federal budget.

And according to the Congressional Budget Office, which adds $ 438 billion in spending over the next 10 years.

governors of both parties are very concerned about what will most of them through hard budget constraints themselves. If Medicaid expansion should occur, the governors are worried most of the responsibility for the costs will be borne by the states.

"We can not have Congress impose requirements that we are forced to absorb beyond our capacity to do so," said the governor of Vermont Republican Jim Douglas.

Even Democratic governors were concerned about this provision.

"There is a concern about whether they have fully understood a revenue stream that would cover the costs, and if they do not have all the dollars accounted it will fall on the states, "said Colorado Governor Bill Ritter Jr., a Democrat.

This week is something a nail-biter for the revision of the health insurance and health care. When Senator Baucus Unveils finished proposal, the reaction to it quickly determine if it is bipartisan or if the Democrats have to go it alone. Like everyone else, we have our eyes trained on two Senators :. Michael B. Enzi and Charles E. Grassley

As we blogged last week, Senator Olympia J. Snowe already warmed to compromise on the bill. But the game of poker is with Mr. Grassley and Mr. Enzi: If they give an indication that they will not vote for the bill, they may have the arrangements they have won in the rejected negotiations. Of course, senators are not indicative of anything.

As if now the "group of six" all was not enough, Mr. Baucus faces another significant challenge yet equally crucial. It also has to orchestrate a deal between more than 23 finance committee members on the Medicaid expansion project. It will be a mess to sort because Medicaid affects every state so differently.

We noted that issues such as the public option and illegal immigrants have been getting the lion's share of publicity, but for many members of Congress - and countless governors and other state legislators - Medicaid is a bigger problem ... and has the potential to be even more divisive.

The insurance scheme public health is back.

Back on the ground.

Back on tour.

Back to the brand with new hair, new shoes and - sing, Patti - a new attitude.

which makes it politically viable this time? A small opt-out that may very well be the magic formula of the Obama administration sought.

The new vision for the public option proposes the establishment of a national health care plan that states can choose from. This means that the Republicans and conservative Democrats could easily sign on overall legislation knowing that they can see the actual decision to local governments.

And, obviously, he would board the Progressive Democrats who insist on a plan sponsored by the government. He has a good chance of collecting the bipartisanship that runs more deeply? Even better.

Now, it is true something similar has already been proposed (Carter map), in which states could choose to opt in for a national plan.

But it was felt that an opt-in would produce a government plan in 10-20 states while the obstacle of having to vote affirmatively for a public plan on a referendum could possibly increase this number to 47, reports the Huffington post .

This idea is still young, not yet formally introduced, but out of all that seethes in the current phase of amendments and the bill merger, it is that we keep an eye on.

as important as the passage of the House bill health insurance was the weekend, it was actually the easy part. The next step, the passage in the Senate, will prove far more treacherous. How much more treacherous? Let's review.

• In the House, Democrats enjoy a 258-177 majority. In the Senate, Republicans are also a minority, but have much more power.

• This means that Nancy Pelosi could afford to lose 40 votes from his own party and still pass the bill. But Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid can not afford to lose a single vote of the caucus. And that's just to put the bill on the floor; he also needs to thwart a Republican filibuster.
• In addition, Pelosi exerts more control over the proceedings in the House that Mr. Reid is the Senate. She has a rules committee that determines the parameters of debate - including amendments are proposed. The best Reid can do is prepare for an ambush near-certain Republican amendments. And can Democrats.
• This also means that when the floor debate in the House only took one day he could (and probably) take several weeks in the Senate.

And at this point, there is not even a bill to try to bring to the floor. Why? For there are two bills that must be merged into one; many factions to be appeased among Democrats before addressing the Republican opposition; a credible threat of Senator Tom Coburn to read all the two thousand pages of draft aloud law.

Phew, that's a lot.

From where we're standing, the task of Mr. Reid made the passage of the bill in the House seem as easy as dropping a newspaper.

The Massachusetts Department of Revenue announced today ' hui that 45,000 registrants were issued a fine because they were considered by the state to be able to get health insurance, but had no coverage.

fines would provide the state with $ 16.4 million in revenue.

in total, there were about 4 million tax filers, reported Patriot Ledger . This means that a little over 1 percent of Massachusetts residents were found to be legal and able to afford health insurance but chose to defy the law of the state.

If these numbers are any where near that, at national level, that would probably be a very good thing for health insurance in the US This level of participation will spread a large financial risk through the country and allow private insurers to offer affordable health insurance plans.

The big question, of course, is how many of those newly insured salary bonuses in the private market and how many funds use taxpayers to get their coverage?

So what are the chances that the stars align? Most of us fear that the proposed health reform law will destroy everything. But if it works?

Well, it should be.

it may be easy to feel complacent with your current health insurance policy, but your age health plan might actually do not provide the coverage you need for 2010. and you might pay more for your coverage than you should.

Even if you have the perfect plan at the moment, he never really hurt to make a small health plan check- up.

most individual health insurance policyholders do not realize that carriers are known to adjust rates at the end of each year. for some, this adjustment can mean more premiums high.

the main reason for these annual premium increases is due to age. older, you are more likely to need costly health care and insurance companies increase rates accordingly. But there is not your age that matters, its other insured for your plane too.

group health insurance companies all their policyholders in separate groups or "pools." So everyone in each pool pays for health care of the other expenses through their payments premiums. As the average age of policyholders in the pool increases each year, so do the premiums for everyone.

The switch to a different plan or even another carrier is the best way to avoid these rate-ups. If you need advice with this, a licensed agent can help you compare health insurance quotes from several different carriers.

In addition, it is a good idea to review your benefits to ensure they are suitable for your needs. Say you are out of a drug from 09 and you need the most generous drug coverage prescription. Or you plan to start a family this year, you may need coverage for maternity care.

The revision of your top-down health plan will now make sure that you have the best health outcomes and cost-effective for the new year.

Anthem Blue Cross , the largest health insurance company in California, decided to contribute $ 6 million for California hospitals in an effort to improve patient safety and reduce costs of unnecessary health care.

An example, according Medscape.com are hospital-acquired infections (nosocomial infections) as providers costs of approximately $ 4.5 billion per year. This translates to more than 2 million extended hospital stays a year because of nosocomial infections.

We think it's a great thing that the hymn can contribute to help solve this problem.

California health care providers will also plan to meet all business quarters to discuss practices to reduce medical problems and compare data. These quarterly meetings will also pave the way for coordination between suppliers, better sharing of useful information and distribute accountability to another in order to make improvements.

This of course is a good thing. By taking initiatives to improve the quality and care, hospitals will reduce mortality rates, medical errors and repeat visits. These additional measures will save hospitals, insurers and insured money while controlling the costs of health care rising.

Kaiser Permanente is another big health insurance company has made efforts to improve the quality of hospital care. This nonprofit insurer collects and shares data with hospitals about patients' infections, which significantly decreased the number of nosocomial infections in the Kaiser Permanente HMO hospitals.

Infection Prevention and prolonged stays in hospital can be part of the key to reducing the rising costs of health care across the United States and it's great to see insurers take the reins.

Today a Pew Research Center has been published showing a majority of Americans believe that the health reform effort is not going to happen.

About 60 percent believe that health care and health insurance reform in Washington will not pass; 30 percent believe that it will become law.

But surprisingly, they are not at their worst. Just after the elected Senator Scott Brown won the special election in Massachusetts for the seat of Senator Edward Kennedy, nearly 70 percent of America thought health reform was made for.

In addition, as we have blogged about before, Virginia lawmakers are close to passing a state law that prohibits a federal health insurance mandate. The problem is, the state law would not hold against federal law.

Finally, President Obama included an extension of the COBRA subsidy for workers laid off at the end of 2010. The program can certainly be considered a success and is very popular with Americans. (Premiums for COBRA coverage can be hundreds of dollars, but an individual health insurance policy can be as low as $ 50 per month.)

So many things happen to the middle of the week and we'll see what happens next.

Five of the largest insurance companies disease in New Jersey, including Aetna and Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey, launched a pilot program that will enable health care providers to easily obtain information on patient insurance. This new program will help health providers spend less time on paperwork and looking for insurance information.

According to The New York Times , physicians and hospitals will be able to use a single Web portal to find information about the coverage and the latest demands of a patient. This site will help healthcare providers save tens of billions they spend on administrative work all the costs of health care-year cut.

There was actually a pilot program launched sister in Ohio last fall, so it is important insurers perfect the system before running the programs in each state.

The health insurance companies get a little criticism for their high administrative costs. So now they take on paperwork streamlining efforts to help doctors become more efficient and cut costs of health care.

When WellPoint announced its rate hikes for individual health insurance policies in California, there were tumult. President Obama and other political leaders immediately used as the main reason for health reform.

It is understandable that many were shocked by the movement of the carrier. But an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal argued that there was an arguable justification for raising rates.

According to the op-ed, a bill in California actually caused these rate increases. The law in question was recently passed bill that does not allow insurance companies in the state to drop consumers who exhaust COBRA coverage. The law also puts a cap on what insurance companies can charge consumers post-COBRA.

Because of this law, the anthem WellPoint lost $ 58 million in 09. The author explained that the majority of consumers have exhausted COBRA benefits are at higher risk than other insured individual health plans. This means that the insurer was paying more in the costs of health care to receive bonuses.

In addition, the author writes, many people have also decided to drop their health insurance plans - possibly because of the delay in economics. This also leads to lower premiums coming in and more benefits being paid.

An independent actuarial firm found the rate increases and the need last fall, although the company was hired by the carrier. Steve Poizner, the Commissioner of Insurance of California, also examined the increases and did not object. (Although, now that he is running for governor, Poizner criticized the increases.)

Certainly there was an op-ed and not scientific. But it was an interesting perspective on the situation of health insurance in California.

The House and Senate adopted yesterday Missouri will increase the speed legislation, including health insurance companies pay hospitals. There is now time requirements for health service providers to send health insurance companies information on applications. The new law also defines time requirements for insurers to pay doctors and hospitals.

In addition, the two bills in the House and Senate will adopt financial penalties for insurance companies that do not make claim payments within 45 days and prohibit companies to suspend payments on receivables. In return, applications include precise definitions of what information is necessary for health care providers to submit to insurance companies to receive payment.

The bill is the result of administrative headaches between healthcare providers and health insurance companies in Missouri. Hospitals and medical clinics have complained significant gaps in time between when the services are provided until they receive payment. But health insurance companies argue that the process would be accelerated if health care providers insured all claims were valid, well presented and contain all required information.

Really there, the bill is a beautiful thing.

The Associated Press and the Kansas City Star, Missouri Department of Insurance, Financial Institutions and Professional Registration issued a statement last report one month more than $ 500 million in unpaid debts 69 hospitals in Missouri. A quarter of these claims were aged 0 days.

The report sparked a bipartisan action between politicians and the bill received absolutely no opposition. Sometimes everything works in the world of politics. (Insert sarcastic smile.)

A recent report from the Trust for Health ( TFAH) of America and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) shows that federal funding for public health programs may be based on the region. The report concluded that federal spending for public health programs have been level in the last five years, despite inflation and the need for disease prevention. Last year alone, states have been forced to cut $ 392 million in public health programs in the face of record unemployment levels.

In addition, further budget cuts for 2010, it will be difficult for states to administer the prevention of chronic diseases, prevention of infectious diseases, food and water security, the improving environmental health and bioterrorism, and health emergency preparedness.

The Executive Director of TFAH, PhD Jeffrey Levi believes that "chronic underfunding for public health means that millions of Americans suffer needlessly from preventable diseases, health care costs have skyrocketed and our workforce is not as healthy as it needs to compete with the rest of the world. If we want to improve the health of Americans, we need to fundamentally rethink our approach to the financing and management of public health and disease prevention in the United States. "

The financing of US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ranges from $ 3.55 per person in Nevada at $ 169.92 per person in Hawaii. Midwest begins receiving smaller amounts of funding and across the nation the amount spent on an average person $ 19.23.

the disparities between regions and states could assimilate the different levels of health across the country. disease prevention is essential for control of health insurance and health care costs in the future.

A recent poll shows that nearly a third of the practice physicians may leave the care of health if the Medicare bill passed the Senate.

A bit strange, however, that there is no argument that health care reform is needed among physicians. The survey found that only 3.6 percent of doctors felt that the health care system should be left in its current form. In fact, doctors think it should be a slow and steady process - 62.7 percent believe that health care reform should be gradual and progressive change rather than radical surgery.

The survey was conducted by The Medicus Firm , a national physician search firm, and suggests that reform will make the quality of health care in the US worse. More than half of physicians surveyed predicted that quality health care is deteriorating. And if the public option is included in the health reform, that 64.1 percent of physicians surveyed believe that the quality of medical care will decrease.

Jim Stone, managing partner at the Dallas office of The Medicus Firm said: "What many people do not realize is that health reform could have an impact physician supply so that the quality of care may suffer. Based on the responses of physicians in the survey, the health reform could significantly increase the effects of the shortage of doctors. Depending on the version of the health care reform bill passes, the reality is that there may not be enough doctors to provide quality medical care to all of these newly insured people. "

Adding 30 million people to the lists of doctors seems to be a cause of concern for many practicing medicine. It is obvious that there would be a difference of supply and demand. In addition, more young professionals could begin to choose specialized fields instead of becoming a primary care physician for that reason alone.

It will be interesting to see if the health insurance reform of short-term or long-term consequences for fewer physicians.

Since the reform of health insurance adopted this week, states have tried to understand the additional costs of implementing the redesign. In California, it seems that the new law will cost $ 2 billion to $ 3 per year. The thing is, California does not have an extra $ 2 billion to $ 3.

"I have always supported the need for a comprehensive health care reform. However, reform health care to succeed, states must either have the flexibility to live within their income or are available federal resources to fully fund its mandates, "said California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

According to The Los Angeles Times , Governor Schwarzenegger believes that the federal government transfer the cost of the expansion of health care services and Medicaid in states that are already reducing programs back.

In the bill on the Senate health care, the federal government will pay 100 percent for new Medicaid enrolled for two years. The reimbursement is reduced to 0 percent in 2020. People who were eligible for Medicaid but are not applied to the program in the past, will only refund 50 percent.

Many other states have recently reduced their public health care programs and now they are expanding in recent years. But states will be able to fund these extensions on the road?

Although the federal government passed a law to health care, Michigan takes its own steps in reform.

Currently Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Michigan already accept all individuals without regard to pre-existing conditions. Since BCBS is the only company in Michigan to accept all applicants-business was bad for business. In response, the lack of competition for BCBS and uninsured numbers high, state legislators are trying to reform health insurance companies throughout the state.

Senator Tom George believes that changes in Michigan are required in addition to the new legislation as Detroit Free Press . George said, "We have 1.3 million people without health insurance. We also have a very unhealthy population. And costs of health care consume budgets of many of our businesses, local governments and the state government. There are many things we can do to make insurance more affordable and more available to make healthier Michiganders. "

The overhaul plan Michigan insurance companies includes:

• All insurance companies will pay in a catastrophic health coverage plan to cover medical claims $ 800,000 to $ 80,000.
• a council of state will design a health insurance plan all insurers will have to offer to consumers.
• Blue Cross and Blue Shield will create a $ 0 million separate funds, which pay the costs of health care for residents with incomes below 300 percent of the federal poverty level.
• the state will have more control over rates insurance.
• insurance companies will be allowed to examine the use history to determine rates.

State legislatures will review the plan during spring break. what whether or not this will create fairer competition for businesses, reduce the number of uninsured and reduce costs of health care will play out over time.

The reform of health care will bring many changes to 'sickness insurance industry and consumers. An improvement will require health insurance companies to provide consumers with preventive care services.

According to The New York Times , three of the four major companies already offer health care prevention services to their employees. But now, small businesses and individuals will enjoy these same benefits.

benefits of wellness and prevention services will be included in all new health insurance plans as of September. Medicare beneficiaries will be eligible for free preventive care starting next year in January. People on old insurance policies will not have the benefits of welfare until they change policies or whether their plans are restructured.

The best part about preventive services that insurance companies will not charge consumers for them. All co-payments and deductibles will be covered by the insurance policy.

Helen Darling, president of the National Business Group on Health said, "This is transformative. We spend an insurance model that was based on the treatment of disease and injury, to a model that focuses on improving the health of an individual and to identify risk factors. "

health and Human Services will be writing regulations and rules for the new benefits. HHS will determine what services should be considered preventive care.

It will be interesting to see if the new plans for preventive services will increase the overall health of Americans and the Americans enjoy the benefits.

electronic health records has been a hot topic since the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act 09 awarded grants for health care providers to implement. Legislation on health care adds to this expansion and also invests in electronic health records (EHR) systems across the country. Yet there is still some controversy about systems and use.

A problem with the use of EHR is the privacy of health information for patients and if that information is safe. The Department of Health and Human Services reported that 64 organizations were facing a gap in the medical records of patients over the past 6 months according to ModernHealthcare.com . HHS is required to post any offense involving the medical records of 500 people or more.

Nearly two-thirds of the offenses were due to theft of a recording storage device while the pirates accounted for only three percent of offenses. Laptops faces the largest number of violations followed by paper documents and desktops.

People are not only concerned about the privacy of health care in the EHR, but many health care providers feel they can not be as effective as commonly reported. A number of doctors felt that they spend more time on their computers than they are with patients.

Of course, the effectiveness and efficiency in EHR must still be developed. But hopefully they will save time for physicians while providing better care. Legislation on health insurance requires health care providers to use EHRs to receive Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements over the next years, so that the problems now need to be developed.

Cost control health care go -delà control of health insurance companies. There are many things that control the rising costs of health services and now lawmakers propose three different bills that will try to bring transparency to the issue.

US Representative Michael Burgess said: "For people to make informed decisions and be their own true consumer advocate in the purchase of health care, they should be able to go somewhere to get valid information on the cost, price and quality, too. Cost and price are not the same, and there are very few places to go to get it. "

According ModernHealthcare.com, the proposed Burgess require Medicaid to disclose costs of visits to the hospital and will require health insurance plans to provide consumers with cost estimates.

US Representative Joe Barton proposed a bill that would require health insurance plans to say that the care of health services and will not be covered as well as other cost-sharing requirements . This part of the proposal are not something new, many health insurance companies are already required to do so. Then, after two years will require hospitals and surgical centers to disclose how much they charge for services.

Also US Representative Steve Kagen has proposed a bill that would require all health care providers, including pharmacies and other healthcare manufacturers to disclose the price. Any health care sector or provider that does not disclose the price will receive a financial penalty of the Ministry of Health and Social Services.

There are already 10 states have laws on transparency and it is unclear how many consumers use transparency when making health care decisions. However, consumers should benefit from these proposals and greater transparency will help some people to make health care choices.

Before health care legislation was passed, many Democrats were attacking the practices of health insurance companies that helped create a momentum for reform. These attacks continued in the last two months after President Barack Obama signed the bill. In response, WellPoint CEO Angela Braly sent a letter last week to President Obama asking that the attacks end and the government is working with the insurance companies to implement the reform.

Now, the Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius is that insurance companies will be "good partners" with the government. Yet the secretary would not promise that the Obama administration mitigate the criticism of the insurance industry as disease The Washington Post .

Secretary Sebelius also said that HHS will invite major insurance companies to meet as they implement the reform. HHS Secretary also commented that the WellPoint CEO Angela Braly, would be included in future meetings, although Braly Sebelius asked to meet several times.

"The Affordable Care Act is built around the private health care system, and so having insurers as good partners is part of the effort. We want to stabilize the market for private insurance and make sure that Americans have access to choices and high quality coverage, "said Secretary Sebelius.

Hopefully the drama between the companies 'insurance and government subsides within two weeks of their time should be devoted to the most important reform of things like health care

Today, on the corner of cover, we go about the preventive care and what it means for consumers shopping for individual health insurance.

preventive care is a measure that aims to help prevent illness and disease by providing some health care services. These could include routine doctor visits, annual medical examinations, prenatal care, immunizations, mammograms and other screenings for cancer.

Preventive care does not cure or treat medical symptoms, but it helps prevent certain diseases and medical symptoms to prevent diseases from developing. This type of care is also extremely important for early detection.

The health insurance companies offer coverage for preventive care and screenings. But as always, it is important to understand which limits the company may have and how much they will cover.

Typically, for a visit to a routine doctor, a consumer will make a share at the time of the visit, which depend on consumer health insurance plans.

Many companies that offer health insurance to their employees now offer additional benefits for preventive services. Even the federal government has indicated the importance of prevention services by health insurance companies provide these free benefits to patients as part of the new legislation on health care.

Starting on January 1, 2011, consumers with health insurance plans will be able to receive free preventive services. This will help many consumers to obtain the services they need to prevent and prevent serious illnesses and diseases.

In protecting patients and the affordable care Act, insurance state regulators had until December to standardize medical loss ratios. But this time has been changed to June 1, when the Ministry of Health and Social Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius realized that health insurance companies could use more time to implement the changes the December deadline would provide .

However, that time has come and gone and insurance regulators say they need more time to make decisions about medical loss ratios as The Washington Post .

Under the law on health insurance, the health insurance companies must spend at least 80 to 85 percent of premiums to pay for medical claims and improving health care. This leaves health insurers from 15 to 20 percent to spend on administrative costs. The bodies of state insurance regulators were supposed to provide guidelines for what should be considered as medical or administrative costs.

This provision is to keep costs low for health care consumers. But if the definition of medical loss ratios is too narrow, the health insurance companies can cut some of their major programs for consumers, such as hotlines nurses.

The National Association of Insurance Commissioners said: "The physician loss ratio and rebate program ... have the potential to destabilize the market and significantly limit consumer choices if the definitions and the calculations are too restrictive. Similarly, the rate of loss and medical reimbursement program could be rendered useless if the definitions and calculations are too broad. "

The definition of medical loss ratio could change health insurance companies in order to do business or it could have a very minimal impact. Anyway, the medical loss ratios should be fair to be effective.

Many consumers GoHealthInsurance.com visitors wonder if their information is safe online and when applying for health insurance quotes.

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