Insurers to opt for ‘cashless’ treatment in hospitals everywhere from today | Insurance News

General and health insurance companies have decided to opt for ‘cashless’ treatment under health insurance policies across the country from Thursday. Under the ‘Cashless Everywhere’ system, the policyholder can get treated in any hospital they choose, and a cashless facility will be available even if such a hospital is not in the network of the insurance company. This means the policyholder can get admitted to a hospital without paying any money and insurance companies will pay the bill on the discharge day.…
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2023 Private Health Insurance Report Card

Australian patients are being shortchanged by private health insurance companies, which are collecting significantly larger profits while returning a smaller proportion of premiums to customers. This week we released our 2023 Private Health Insurance Report Card, which shows the rebates for identical procedures still vary wildly between insurers. In a media statement, AMA President Professor Steve Robson encouraged consumers to carefully consider which private health insurance option is best for them, with a focus on products that deliver treatment they are most likely to need in the future. “Our report card highlights the importance for consumers to look closely at…
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Op-Ed: How the Affordable Care Act can be protected

Heather Howard (left) and Gillian Tisdale The Affordable Care Act, commonly known as “Obamacare,” was enacted 14 years ago this week. This landmark legislation made sweeping changes to improve access to and quality of health coverage: It expanded Medicaid, established marketplaces for consumers to easily shop for health insurance, banned insurers from discriminating against people with preexisting conditions, created subsidies for middle-class Americans and required most insurance plans to cover essential health benefits including preventive services, mental health and maternity care. It was controversial on its passage, but the ACA has proven itself resilient over the past 14 years, and…
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Under the Biden-Harris Administration, Over 20 Million Selected Affordable Health Coverage in ACA Marketplace Since Start of Open Enrollment Period, a Record High

As January 16 coverage deadline approaches, Biden-Harris Administration continues to encourage Americans to sign up for quality, affordable health care coverage ACA Marketplace National Enrollment Snapshot Under the Biden-Harris Administration, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced today that over 20 million people have selected an Affordable Care Act (ACA) Health Insurance Marketplace plan since the 2024 Marketplace Open Enrollment Period launched on November 1 — a record number of enrollments. Today’s data represents activity through December 23 (Week 8) for the 32 states using HealthCare.gov and for the 18 states and the District of Columbia with State-based…
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AHPI welcomes proposed regulator exclusively for health insurance | News

Under the IRDAI Vision 2047, the government is aiming to provide “Insurance for All” by 2047. The Association of Healthcare Providers India (AHPI) has lauded the Ministry of Finance for contemplating setting up an independent regulator for health insurance. The ministries of finance and health are under discussion over the need for a sector watchdog to help achieve the IRDAI Vision 2047. The AHPI, representing a vast majority of private sector hospitals in the country, is also represented on the IRDAI advisory for the healthcare sector. In an official letter, the AHPI said, “This is a welcome move as making…
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Why health insurance is poised to make inflation jump

Suriyapong Thongsawang | Moments | Getty Images Why health insurance inflation is hard to measure Health insurance prices are a tricky thing for economists to quantify. The BLS doesn’t measure direct consumer costs such as monthly premiums. That’s because those premiums don’t buy the same quality of insurance. Benefits and risk factors vary from policy to policy, for example. “Price change between health plans of varying quality cannot be compared, and any quality adjustment methods to facilitate price comparison would be difficult and subjective,” according to a BLS fact sheet. Instead, the agency measures health insurance inflation based indirectly partly…
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More Australians see health insurance’s value

More Australians see health insurance’s value | Insurance Business Australia Life & Health More Australians see health insurance’s value Report covers figures related to hospital treatment and extras cover Life & Health By Roxanne Libatique More Australians are seeing the value of health insurance, with the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority’s (APRA) latest data showing an increasing number of private health insurance (PHI) members. From June to September 2023, the number of people with cover for hospital treatment ballooned by 89,000. Meanwhile, the number of people with extras cover for services such as dental, optical, and physio rose by 86,000. Members…
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Premiums for family health insurance at work jump to nearly $24,000 this year

New York CNN — Workers and their employers are paying a lot more for job-based health insurance this year. The annual cost of family health insurance coverage at work soared to an average of nearly $24,000 this year, according to KFF’s Employer Health Benefits Survey, released Wednesday. That’s up 7% from last year. Employees are shelling out an average of $6,575 for their share of the premium, up almost $500, or close to 8%, from last year, the annual survey found. Their companies are footing the rest of the bill. “We have a huge premium increase this year. There’s just…
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