Many Insurers Set to Offer New Medicare Drug Plans - 10/11/05
Article from the
New York Times Online
In a major step to cut drug costs for older Americans, the Bush administration
announced on Friday that 10 companies would offer prescription drug coverage to
Medicare beneficiaries in all parts of the country, while many other insurers
would sell coverage in specific states, for premiums averaging $32 a month. Each
company can offer several options, with different benefits and co-payments.
Advocates for the elderly said the large number of choices could confuse
beneficiaries. Under the new Medicare law, all 42 million beneficiaries will
have access to drug coverage if they choose to sign up for it. Insurers can
start marketing on Oct. 1, and people can sign up in the six-month period
starting Nov. 15. Drug coverage becomes available on Jan. 1. People who are
eligible now but delay signing up will be subject to financial penalties, in the
form of higher premiums, for late enrollment. ##END#
Anthem Blues in Ohio, Kentucky Reach $163M Settlement With Physicians - 10/11/05
Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans in Ohio and Kentucky have reached a nearly $163 million settlement with Greater Cincinnati and northern Kentucky physicians to resolve lawsuits challenging the companies' reimbursement practices.
Judges in the Hamilton County Court of Common Pleas in Ohio and the Boone Circuit Court in Kentucky granted preliminary approval to the agreement, the Anthem plans said in a statement.
Other health insurers also were named as defendants in the suits, filed in 2002, Anthem said.
The plaintiffs, including the Academy of Medicine in Cincinnati, the Northern Kentucky Medical Association and several physicians, alleged that health-maintenance organizations - including Anthem, as well as Humana Inc. Full Story...
HMOs Face Task of Having Brokers Follow Complex Drug Marketing Guidelines - 10/11/05
In the brave new world of marketing Medicare prescription drug plans to
millions of U.S. seniors, consultants say managed-care companies should
make sure brokers with whom they have distribution partnerships follow the
government's intricate maze of complex marketing guidelines.
"The feds are watching very carefully," said John Gorman, president and
chief executive officer of Gorman Health Group, a Washington, D.C.-based
managed care industry consultant. "Anytime you’ve got over 600 plans with
a drug benefit hitting the market at exactly the same time, the biggest
problem you are going to have is that beneficiaries get overwhelmed and
confused.
Full
Story...
PHYSICIANS, PRUDENTIAL AND HEALTHNET ANNOUNCE COURT APPROVAL OF SETTLEMENT
OF LANDMARK LITIGATION - 09/28/05
Miami, FL – Prudential, HealthNet and representatives of hundreds of thousands
of physicians, state and local medical societies announced that their
settlement of the national class action lawsuit pending in the federal court for
the Southern District of Florida before U.S. District Judge Federico Moreno has
been approved.
Full
Story...
For more information regarding HMO litigation please visit the
HMO Crisis Newsroom
For more information regarding PBM litigation please visit the PBM Watch Newsroom
For more information regarding hospital patient
billing litigation visit the
Hospital Watch Newsroom
Newsroom | Events Calendar | Contact Us | HMO Crisis Home | Archie Lamb.Com
You are receiving this newsletter because you have subscribed through our website www.hmocrisis.com
No representation is made that the quality of legal services to be performed is greater than the quality of legal services provided by other lawyers.