Blue Shield Offers Two New Low Cost Healh Plans
SAN FRANCISCO, March 30 /PRNewswire/ -- Responding to increased market demand for more affordable, flexible health coverage, Blue Shield of California Life & Health Insurance Company (Blue Shield Life) is introducing new products for individual and family plan members. Blue Shield Life is offering Active Choice(SM) Plan 600 and Shield Spectrum PPO(SM) Plan 5000, two distinct plans that afford members comprehensive coverage and increased control over their healthcare dollar spending.
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Paying the Price: An Analysis of Prescription Drug Prices
Executive Summary: From seniors trekking to Canada for affordable prescriptions to labor strikes over healthcare benefits, headlines across the country are dominated by stories about the effects of soaring healthcare and prescription drug prices. The prescription drug was has hit the prime time because members of the public have decided to fight back against the astronomical rise in drug prices.
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UC Program takes new approach to preventing injuries
By Louise Donahue (Exerpt) If you want to cut workers’ compensation costs, consider the whole employee--not just the injury. That's the goal of a progressive, employee-centered program launched by University of California Santa Cruz's (UCSC) Workers’ Compensation Team.
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Sacramento HMO profits up 605 % from '02
By Kathy Robertson (Excerpt) Double-digit premium increases continue to pay off for the six HMOs that dominate the Sacramento market -- their combined net profits skyrocketed to more than $2.3 billion last year, up 605 percent from 2002.
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Pros and Cons of Multiple Employer Welfare Arrangements
NEW YORK, U.S. Newswire/ -- With health care costs and insurance premiums rising, many state and federal policymakers are promoting association health plans (AHPs) as a way to expand access to affordable health insurance coverage. But a new report from The Commonwealth Fund warns that self-insured AHPs, or Multiple Employer Welfare Arrangements (MEWAs), which often have less stringent licensing requirements than those imposed on traditional insurers, pose risks to enrollees and could leave them in danger of facing unpaid medical bills if plans become insolvent.
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Student Health Insurance a `Must’
By VANESSA STUMPF (excerpt) Health insurance is a serious national issue - an estimated 40 million Americans don't have it. Some college students are fortunate to be covered by their parents' private insurance providers. But others are not so lucky.
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Health Care Crisis in California Heartland Continues
By Carol Reiter - Merced Sun-Star (Excerpt) Dr. Robert Gobbo sees the problems every day - pregnant women who have had no prenatal care, diabetics who have complications from their disease, and people addicted to drugs and alcohol.
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AAHP-HIAA Proposes Plan to Fight Insurance Scams
WASHINGTON, March 3 /PRNewswire/ -- AAHP-HIAA President and CEO Karen Ignagni responded to the report issued today by the General Accounting Office (GAO) on the increase in unlicensed entities selling bogus health insurance.
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Bay Area grocery workers prepare for contract fight
By Michele Chandler. (Excerpt) While unionized grocery employees in Southern California have reached a contract agreement, the uncertainty is just beginning for Bay Area grocery workers, who are girding for talks once their labor agreement expires in the fall.
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