Category Archives: Health Insurance

Tort Reform Would Remove Check on Medical Malpractice

Written On August 27, 2009 By Bob Kraft

My friend Herb Friedman has an excellent column in the Lincoln Journal Star saying that tort reform in medical malpractice claims would remove the checks currently in place on medical treatment.
Friedman states, “Malpractice amounts to less than 2 percent of health care spending, according to the Congressional Budget Office. The CBO has estimated that [...]

Posted in Health Insurance, Medical Malpractice, Tort Reform

Health Care – Tort Reform Is Not The Answer

Written On August 26, 2009 By Bob Kraft

In a column in the Baltimore Sun today Jay Hancock discuss some of the myths about health care reform. One is that “tort reform” would significantly cut the costs of medical care in the United States. His conclusion is that it would make little difference. Here are the relevant paragraphs from his article:
“Why is it [...]

Posted in Health Insurance, Medical Malpractice, Tort Reform

Sebelius Blames Healthcare System Problems on Insurance Industry

Written On August 4, 2009 By Bob Kraft

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius has a good op-ed piece in today’s Washington Post. The topic is health care reform, and Secretary Sebelius points out that the major opposition to reform is coming from health insurance companies that are making big money under the current system and want no changes at all. But [...]

Posted in Consumer Information, Government, Health Insurance, Political and/or Judicial

Research Firm Cited by GOP Is Owned by Health Insurer

Written On July 22, 2009 By Bob Kraft

Here’s a perfect example of why this blog has the title and subtitle it has. We’ve come to a point where we just can’t trust either government or insurance companies to act in the best interests of the citizens of this country. Whatever your feelings about the proposed health insurance laws may be (and my [...]

Posted in Health Insurance, Insurance Company or Government Misconduct

AMA Report Card Ranks Health Insurance Companies

Written On July 22, 2009 By Bob Kraft

The AMA has issued its 2009 Health Insurer Report Card, which measures the nation’s eight largest health insurers on claim denials, timeliness, accuracy and transparency. For more information than you could ever want on this subject, you can visit the AMA Web site. Fortunately, the Dallas Morning News has summarized the findings for us:

Doctors frustrated [...]

Posted in Health Insurance, Insurance Company or Government Misconduct, Insurance Information

Some Health Insurers Reject Patients for Taking Certain Medications; Buy Information Online

Written On April 3, 2009 By Bob Kraft

McClatchy reports that information used by some insurers who deny coverage due to the use of certain drugs like Seroquel and pre-existing conditions may be found on the internet "if you know where to look." Also, "you can discover that if you lie to an insurer about your medical history and drug use, you will [...]

Posted in Health Insurance

UnitedHealth to Face Senate Tuesday

Written On March 30, 2009 By Bob Kraft

The AP reports, "Sen. Jay Rockefeller, chairman of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, wants answers at a hearing Tuesday from the chief executives of UnitedHealth Group Inc. and its subsidiary Ingenix Inc., a claims database used by insurers nationwide to calculate out-of-network rates." The inquiry follows lawsuits "alleging that UnitedHealth and Ingenix manipulated [...]

Posted in Health Insurance

Witnesses Tell Senate UnitedHealth May Have Defrauded One In Three Insured Americans

Written On March 27, 2009 By Bob Kraft

CQ Healthbeat (3/27) reports, "UnitedHealth Group officials are in for an unpleasant experience at a Senate hearing next week – if a set-up session on Thursday was any indication." At a Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee hearing today, witnesses "described how health insurers routinely defrauded millions of patients who sought out-of-network care by paying [...]

Posted in Health Insurance

Stimulus Bill Gives COBRA a Boost

Written On March 23, 2009 By Bob Kraft

As reported in the Dallas Morning News, a
little-noticed provision of the stimulus bill signed last month by
President Barack Obama may give the growing ranks of unemployed workers
some relief with their medical bills. COBRA is the federal law that gives laid-off employees the right to continue their health insurance for 18 months, but at their own [...]

Posted in Health Insurance, Insurance Information

Texas Doctors Say Health Insurance Company Paperwork Hurts Medical Care

Written On February 23, 2009 By Bob Kraft

A recent article in the Dallas Morning News said that a survey of doctors found that health
insurers and government bureaucracy are hurting their ability to care
for patients. Here are excerpts:

The survey of 850 Texas doctors underscores
core problems with the health care system: Doctors are struggling to
get paid and insurers are wrestling to keep costs [...]

Posted in Health Insurance

UnitedHealth To Pay $400 Million To Settle Manipulation Allegations

Written On January 16, 2009 By Bob Kraft

Bloomberg News
(1/15, Goldstein, Freifeld) reported, "UnitedHealth Group Inc., the
biggest U.S. health insurer, said it will spend $400 million to settle
allegations it has manipulated payments to doctors and patients for the
last 15 years." UnitedHealth "agreed to put $350 million into a
class-action restitution fund to pay physicians and policyholders for
services provided by out-of-network providers, the company said [...]

Posted in Government, Health Insurance, Insurance Company or Government Misconduct, Insurance Information

Democrats Promise New Era Of Regulation On Behalf Of Consumers

Written On January 11, 2009 By Bob Kraft

McClatchy (1/8, Hall) reported, "With the 111th Congress newly seated this week and a new president who promises change coming into office soon, the era of hands-off regulation for a wide number of industries appears to be over." McClatchy says, "During much of the past decade, the federal government took the word of everyone from [...]

Posted in Consumer Information, Government, Health Insurance, Political and/or Judicial

Featured Link – CoverTheUninsured.org

Written On October 24, 2008 By Bob Kraft

Those of us who represent personal injury clients and Social Security disability claimants have to see every day the problems caused by lack of health insurance. Regardless of your politics, no one can argue that our country wouldn’t be better off if everyone had some type of health insurance.
One Web site that has this goal [...]

Posted in Consumer Information, Featured Link, Health Insurance

Texas Still Leads In Percentage Of Residents With No Health Insurance

Written On August 27, 2008 By Bob Kraft

A U.S. Census Bureau report this week confirmed that Texas still has the highest percentage of residents without
health insurance. Almost one of every four
Texas residents – 24.8 percent – were uninsured in 2006 and 2007, based
on an average of the rates for those two years. That’s up from 23.9
percent for 2004 and 2005.
California still [...]

Posted in Health Insurance

Restaurant Employees Lose Health Insurance, Even For Past Bills

Written On August 25, 2008 By Bob Kraft

I’ve been a little behind on blog posts while spending time trying to raise money for the Muscular Dystrophy Association, so this story is a little old, but still compelling. The Dallas Morning News wrote recently about employees of Bennigan’s Restaurants, approximately 8000 of who were laid off when the parent company filed for bankruptcy.
Usually, [...]

Posted in Health Insurance

Mr. Cornyn, Listen To The Uninsured

Written On August 14, 2008 By Bob Kraft

That is the title of a commentary in the Houston Chronicle this week about the health insurance crisis in Texas. Senator Cornyn seems to be focusing on the wrong part of the health care crisis, and is missing the big picture.

U.S. Sen. John Cornyn told the Greater Houston Pachyderm Club this week
that Texas is a [...]

Posted in Health Insurance, Political and/or Judicial, Tort Reform

Featured Link – BenefitsLink.com – ERISA Information

Written On July 22, 2008 By Bob Kraft

Need to know something about ERISA plans? Chances are, you’ll find the answer at BenefitsLink.
Welcome! Our goal is to help you, the employee benefits professional, do your job.

Every day we link you to the freshest news, analysis, opinions and government documents about employee benefit plans.

Our coverage emphasizes compliance, administration, design (especially cost savings), and policy.

We [...]

Posted in Featured Link, Health Insurance, Insurance Information

Texas Panel Calls For State Oversight Of PPO Health Insurance Plans

Written On May 23, 2008 By Bob Kraft

As reported in the Dallas Morning News, the Texas Sunset Advisory Commission said the lack of state authority over
PPOs is "outdated" in the current health care environment and may
result in harm to a large number of consumers if the situation remains
unchanged. This is a loophole that really needs to be closed, and it’s encouraging that [...]

Posted in Government, Health Insurance, Insurance Information

Medicare Says It Won’t Cover Hospital Errors

Written On August 20, 2007 By Bob Kraft

In a surprising, but potentially helpful rule change, the Bush administration has announced that Medicare will no longer pay for medical bills resulting from doctor or hospital negligence.
This could save millions of dollars for Medicare, but my hope is that it will cause doctors and hospitals to be more careful with patients, and make fewer [...]

Posted in Government, Health Insurance, Medical Malpractice