Category: Health Care

The ACA void has been filled in MO

The MO Director of Insurance joins consumer advocates at CCM in cheering Centene for filling the ACA void in our state. While we would like to see more choice in MO, 1 choice is certainly better than no choice.

Read More

Centene to now offer Obama Care in MO In 2018

With a large part of MO at risk of having no insurer next year, Centene decides to sell Obamacare plans in MO. Read more here.

Read More

Concentration in the health care market

The effects of concentration within the Health Care Market cannot be overstated. Join @SLU_HealthLaw this Friday!

http://law.slu.edu/HLsymposium2017

Read More

Exit would be disastrous for MO

The potential exit of Anthem from ACA in Missouri would be disastrous for Missourians ACA choice. And highlights the importance of reviewing rate increases by consumer watchdog like CCM.
 
http://www.stltoday.com/business/local/anthem-likely-to-retreat-from-obamacare-for-analysts-say/article_5fc6ce30-9dbd-50df-a187-fba67923a9fb.html#utm_source=stltoday.com&utm_campaign=BusinessNewsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=1DBDAE0183C0B49F9CB94AD3EE8564A5EF7394FF

Read More

ACA Deadline Coming!

The Trump administration has canceled all government-sponsored outreach advertising, email reminders, phone calls and other promotion related to ACA open enrollment deadline.
 
But ACA remains the law of the land, requiring most people to have health insurance and providing subsidies for 2017 health plans.
 
Help us get the word out in these last few days of Open Enrollment 2017 to reach consumers and provide in-person help is more important now than ever!
 
Healthcare.gov is still open to consumers until 11:59 PST on January 31.

Read More

Health Insurance Enrollment extended to Jan 1

This is the second consecutive year that federal officials extended the deadline for consumers to sign up for coverage through Affordable Care Act marketplaces. By the start of this week, about 4 million people had chosen ACA plans. Obama administration officials estimated that more than 11 million will be covered through ACA in 2017.

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/2016/12/15/6b949e9a-c339-11e6-9a51-cd56ea1c2bb7_story.html?utm_term=.b15768b4ab41

Read More

MO DOI postpones Anthem-Cigna hearing

Bad news for consumers. Anthem-Cigna merger hearing has been post-poned by the MO Dept of Insurance. A Missouri hearing would have given the department the opportunity to look into how the merger would affect MO consumers before it goes to a federal judge.

The department held a similar hearing for the merger between Aetna and Humana and ruled against this merger. A similar decision would have been important for the federal judge to know before ruling.

http://www.stltoday.com/business/local/missouri-department-of-insurance-postpones-anthem-cigna-hearing/article_efd3bbd5-f3f5-5df0-b894-fae728099bdf.html

Read More

Federal Antitrust trial over Anthem-Cigna merger begins

Today marked the first day of the federal trial over the proposed Anthem-Cigna merger which would create the nation’s largest health insurance company. Government antitrust lawyers are attempting to block this $48 billion deal which threatens to reshape the U.S. market for health coverage.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2016/11/21/antitrust-trial-over-aetna-cigna-merger-begins/94222422/

Read More

Consumers should pay attention to the largest merger in the history of the health insurance industry.

The U.S. Department of Justice is challenging what it says is the largest merger in the history of the health insurance industry. On Monday, the Justice Department will begin arguing its case against Anthem’s $54 billion acquisition of Cigna Corp.

This merger would be particularly painful for St. Louis area consumers where these two insurers have a significant portion of the market share.

http://www.stltoday.com/business/local/consumers-should-pay-attention-to-insurance-antitrust-case/article_5a24485f-b821-5d4f-969b-904c1ecd1867.html#utm_source=stltoday.com&utm_campaign=BusinessNewsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=1DBDAE0183C0B49F9CB94AD3EE8564A5EF7394FF

Read More

MO ins rates sky rocket, data questionable

The Affordable Care Act made health insurance accessible for millions of Americans. But rising rates, a lack of transparency in policy changes and little oversight in the process puts the entire system at risk.

Rates in MO are rising by alarming rates and the data behind these rates hikes are questionable.

http://acasignups.net/16/06/01/2017-rate-request-early-look-missouri

Read More
#thegov_button_656b51137e095 { color: rgba(255,255,255,1); }#thegov_button_656b51137e095:hover { color: rgba(49,49,49, 1); }#thegov_button_656b51137e095 { border-color: rgba(204,0,0,1); background-color: rgba(202,44,40,1); }#thegov_button_656b51137e095:hover { border-color: rgba(49,49,49, 1); background-color: rgba(255,255,255,1); }