The healthcare industry is currently in an era of higher copays and deductibles, and effective patient collections are critical to the financial health of practices. The front desk staff of a practice is the first area to help with patient satisfaction and the key to a healthy revenue cycle. This front desk staff must collect…
(Reuters Health)—Even when consumers have health plans that require them to pay a high amount out-of-pocket for care, they often don’t talk to doctors about the price of treatments or shop around to get the best deal, a U.S. study suggests. Researchers focused on high-deductible health plans, which typically have lower monthly premiums than other…
NEW YORK (Reuters)—President Donald Trump’s 90% cut to Obamacare advertising has U.S. health insurers in many states digging deeper into their pockets to get the word out about 2018 enrollment, which opened last week. Independence Blue Cross, a health insurer in Pennsylvania, has commissioned a tractor-trailer truck to bring insurance consultants out to shopping centers…
NEW YORK (Reuters)—The average monthly premium for benchmark Obamacare insurance plans will surge around 37% in 2018, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said on Monday, fueled by the Trump administration’s suspension of billions of dollars in subsidy payments to health insurers. The average monthly premium for the second-lowest cost “silver” plan for…
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters)—A U.S. judge is set to hear arguments on Monday about whether to block President Donald Trump’s decision to terminate controversial payments to health insurance companies under Obamacare. U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria in San Francisco federal court has said he would quickly issue a ruling following the hearing. Several U.S. states sued…
NEW YORK (Reuters)—President Donald Trump’s reversals in the past week on maintaining Obamacare subsidies to insurers are sowing new confusion over what kind of health insurance will be available to consumers, and at what price, when enrollment for 2018 begins in two weeks. Trump said last week his administration would stop paying billions of dollars…
WASHINGTON (Reuters)—On Tuesday, two U.S. senators announced a bipartisan breakthrough to shore up Obamacare for two years by reviving federal subsidies for health insurers that President Donald Trump planned to scrap, and the president voiced support for the plan. The agreement worked out by Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) would meet…
WASHINGTON/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters)—On Friday, California, New York and others states vowed to sue President Donald Trump’s administration to stop him from scrapping a key component of Obamacare, subsidies to insurers that help millions of low-income people pay medical expenses, even as Trump invited Democratic leaders to negotiate a deal. One day after his administration announced…
WASHINGTON (Reuters)—The latest Republican effort to repeal former U.S. President Barack Obama’s signature healthcare law faced possible defeat this week as several senators in the party voiced concerns about the bill under consideration. The U.S. Senate is up against a Saturday deadline for deciding the fate of the 2010 Affordable Care Act, popularly known as…
WASHINGTON (Reuters)—Republican leaders sought to nail down the final votes needed to pass what U.S. Vice President Mike Pence on Thursday called their “last best chance” to repeal Obamacare while a new analysis underscored how Democratic-leaning states stand to lose large amounts of federal funding under the legislation. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) plans…