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News - October 5

Finance Committee Rejects Public Plan Option, Agrees To Boost Wellness Program Reward Limits

At September 29 and 30 public hearings to consider America’s Healthy Futures Act of 2009, the Senate Finance Committee rejected two bids to add a public plan option to committee chairman Sen. Max Baucus’s (Mont.) original proposal (see News, September 28, 2009, Baucus Adds 36 Pages Of Changes To His Health Care Reform Proposal). Mr. Baucus’s plan instead includes the establishment of health care cooperatives (Subtitle E of the original proposal), as first suggested by Sen. Kent Conrad (N.D.)…

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Mental Health Parity, Michelle’s Law Take Effect In October

The Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 (P.L. 110-343), under which all employer-sponsored group health plans that provide mental health benefits are required to provide benefits that are equivalent to medical or surgical benefits, takes effect for plan years beginning after Oct. 3, 2009; the original provisions of the 1996 act remain in effect until then…

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Few Employer Changes In Health Plans, Despite Rising Costs

Even after changes were instituted in medical care plans, the total cost of medical plan rates increased in 81% of plans in 2008 and 52% in 2009, according to Aon Consulting’s 2009 Benefits and Talent Survey, conducted in March 2009 with 1,300 participating employers. Many plan sponsors have experienced a nearly 80% increase in health insurance premiums since 2002, Aon reported. “Respondents cite the cost of health care benefits as the second largest risk to their organizations, after market uncertainty,” the survey said…

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House Approves Bill To Freeze Medicare Part B Premiums For 2010

On September 24, by a vote of 406-18, the House approved H.R. 3631, which would freeze the Medicare Part B monthly premium for 2010 for all Medicare beneficiaries. The Medicare Premium Fairness Act, which was introduced on September 23 by Rep. Dina Titus (Nev.) and 45 cosponsors, has gone to the Senate, where it is expected to be approved…

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Independent Medicare Commission Included In Finance Committee Bill

During the third day of consideration of America’s Healthy Futures Act of 2009, the Senate Finance Committee agreed by a vote of 15-3 to an amendment from Sen. Jay Rockefeller (W.Va.) to establish an independent commission that would be required, beginning in 2014, to implement policies that successfully reduce cost growth in Medicare by at least 1.5% annually. Actions by the commission would be subject to an annual review by Congress, and any modifications to the commission’s actions would require a two-thirds majority vote…

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Nearly 45,000 Adults Each Year Die Due To Lack Of Health Insurance

Nearly 45,000 adults in the United States die each year due to lack of health insurance, according to the results of a study, Health Insurance and Mortality in U.S. Adults, published in the September 17 issue of the Journal of Public Health. More precisely, the study’s estimate was “as many as 44,789 deaths.” The Institute of Health and the Urban Institute previously estimated that approximately 20,000 people in the U.S. died each year due to lack of health insurance…

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Health Care Reform Update

This is another in a series of regular health care reform updates from Spencer's Benefits Reports (see News, Sept. 21, 2009, Health Care Reform Update). Included are links to items already covered, brief summaries of actions taken by the federal government, recent reports and studies on health care reform, policy statements by major stakeholders, and other recent health care reform activity…

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Atlanta, Seattle Have Highest Access Rates To Health Insurance: BLS

Atlanta and Seattle had the highest access rates to health insurance as of December 2008, according to recently released statistics from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Both metropolitan areas had access rates of 84%, well above the national average of 74%. Los Angeles was at the other end of the spectrum, with an access rate of 70%. The study, Local Area Employee Benefits Estimates for 15 Metropolitan Areas, used data from the BLS’s National Compensation Survey, which defines access as having the benefit available for use…

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