The prices of health care services have long been opaque to the average person. Individuals often don’t know whether they are being overcharged or not. But recent efforts by health insurers, state legislatures and private firms have begun to reveal more information about the cost of care for consumers. Still, the picture is not always…
The digital revolution has swept over health care, as wearable devices, electronic medical records and other computerized innovations have become pervasive. Yet some frustrating connection problems and other technical hiccups have often thwarted the potential payoff of these breakthroughs, with improvements in the quality of care not always as dramatic as one would hope. That…
Georgia employers’ health care costs are lower than the national average, a recent survey has found. And the survey — done by New York-based Mercer, the world’s largest human resources consulting company — finds that employers in the Peach State offer what are called “consumer-driven health plans’’ at a greater rate than their national counterparts….
Georgia’s average premium for the “silver’’ plans in the insurance exchange will rise by 48 percent for 2018, higher than the average increase nationally, a consulting firm reported Wednesday. The analysis from Avalere found that premiums will increase by an average of 34 percent nationwide for silver plans, the most popular exchange policies. Georgia’s premium hike…
For most people, the biggest attraction in the bipartisan health care bill in the Senate is the renewal of federal cost-sharing payments to insurers, which President Trump recently cut off. Approval could help stabilize the exchange markets now jolted by impending price hikes. But individuals ages 30 to 64 who earn too much money to…
President Trump signed an executive order Thursday that would potentially ease rules on “association health plans’’ and on the sale of short-term, low-cost insurance policies. Because federal agencies must develop the regulations and guidance for these changes, no significant changes will occur for months. Trump said Thursday that “with these actions we are moving toward lower costs and more…
Crowdfunding now a major force in health care, but the competition for sympathy can be tough Maurice Tanner has some good days, but many more bad ones. On the bad days, he’s depressed and tired. “I cry a lot,” he says, in a soft, almost apologetic tone. On a bad day, he sits in a…
State insurance officials Wednesday gave approval to premium increases of more than 50 percent for the four insurers participating in next year’s insurance exchange in Georgia. The officials said that the huge rate hikes assume that subsidies for insurers to lower consumers’ out-of-pocket costs will not be paid next year by the federal government. The premium increases…
Mario Schlosser is used to giving tours of his company’s headquarters, and he’s used to the visitors’ reaction to it. “Everyone who’s familiar with the world of health insurance says this has a totally different feel to it,” says the 39-year-old founder and CEO of Oscar Health. The New York City office is located in…
A new survey of employer benefits underscores a central fact about health insurance: Where you get coverage can make a huge financial difference. Premiums for employer-sponsored family coverage rose an average of 3 percent this year, to a total of to $18,764, according to an employer benefits survey of employers released Tuesday by the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Health…