This can't be good for em
The end might be near....
DJ US House Votes To Cut Insurers' Medicare Payments By $47B (Not rated) 44 minutes ago WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--Health insurers would see their Medicare plan
payments cut by $47 billion over the next five years under legislation opposed
by the White House but approved Wednesday by the U.S. House of Representatives
by a vote of 225 to 204.
Publicly traded companies offering such plans include Humana Inc. (HUM),
UnitedHealth Group Inc. (UNH), Aetna Inc. (AET), Healthspring Inc. (HS), Tenet
Healthcare Corp. (THC) and Cigna Corp. (CI).
Experts on both sides of the debate say the cuts would likely cause a major
contraction of the Medicare market for insurers. Particularly hard hit would be
the market for private fee-for-service plans, participation in which exploded
after insurer payment increases were enacted in 2003.
One analysis predicts insurers would be forced to stop offering the plans in
22 states. Enrollment in another 17 states would fall by an average of 80%,
according to the report by Emory University professors Adam Atherly and Ken
Thorpe released by the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association.
The end might be near....
DJ US House Votes To Cut Insurers' Medicare Payments By $47B (Not rated) 44 minutes ago WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--Health insurers would see their Medicare plan
payments cut by $47 billion over the next five years under legislation opposed
by the White House but approved Wednesday by the U.S. House of Representatives
by a vote of 225 to 204.
Publicly traded companies offering such plans include Humana Inc. (HUM),
UnitedHealth Group Inc. (UNH), Aetna Inc. (AET), Healthspring Inc. (HS), Tenet
Healthcare Corp. (THC) and Cigna Corp. (CI).
Experts on both sides of the debate say the cuts would likely cause a major
contraction of the Medicare market for insurers. Particularly hard hit would be
the market for private fee-for-service plans, participation in which exploded
after insurer payment increases were enacted in 2003.
One analysis predicts insurers would be forced to stop offering the plans in
22 states. Enrollment in another 17 states would fall by an average of 80%,
according to the report by Emory University professors Adam Atherly and Ken
Thorpe released by the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association.