News Articles
Washington Area Counties Reflect Health Disparities
News article based on the 2011 County Health Rankings report, about the Washington area having some of the region’s healthiest counties, such as Fairfax and Montgomery, but also pockets of poor health in the District and Prince George’s County. See the 2011 Health Outcomes Map for Maryland here.
Md. Officials: Hundreds Bought Fake Insurance. Some Stuck Owing Tens Of Thousands In Bills
News article of a scam that has impacted thousands of Americans including over 700 Marylanders. A company called ATA sells phony health insurance policies which might pay small claims but fails to pay larger claims.
Insurance Industry Faces Tough Scrutiny From Federal Watchdogs
A Kaiser Health News article reports that four longtime industry watchdogs are helping steer the federal government's effort to overhaul the private insurance market.
The Status Quo Is Unsustainable
A commentary in the Gazette newspapers by Anne Kasper, Coalition Chair, and Leni Preston, Coalition Vice Chair, highlighting the problems that will remain if health care reform does not pass.
Health Insurers Break Profit Records as 2.7 Million Americans Lose Coverage
Health Care for America Now report health insurers have record profits in 2009... at our expense! Despite a severe economic recession the 5 largest US health insurers posted a 56% increase in profits this past year. They earned more for their stockholders, charged higher premiums, and paid their executives more while insuring 2.7 million fewer Americans who needed health insurance.
Insurance Companies Prosper, Families Suffer: Our Broken Health Insurance System
Article discussing recent dramatic price increases by health insurance companies. Anthem Blue Cross of California, an insurance company owned by the for-profit company WellPoint, Incorporated, announced that its individual market premiums would rise by as much as 39 percent in the coming months. This shocking increase isn’t unique. Across the country, families have seen their premiums skyrocket in recent years, and experts predict these increases will continue. Sandy Praeger, a leader of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, predicts that we will “see rate increases of 20, 25, 30 percent.” These massive increases are disturbing examples of the problems that make reforming our health insurance system more important than ever.
Community Heath Centers Providing Return on Investment
A new study found that $1.85 billion the federal government gave to clinics under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 has generated $3.2 billion in economic activity. Today, the centers provide a safety net of health care for much of America's poor at a subsidized rate by targeting care to places with higher poverty and unemployment rates and fewer numbers of care providers. The National Association of Community Health Centers says the stimulus money has funded care for 1.6 million more people, including 900,000 uninsured, at 1,100 centers around the country. Visits by the uninsured to health centers rose 21 percent last year, NACHC says. Centers in California alone are expected to serve more than 380,000 new patients through 2011, according to Capital Link, which provided modeling for the study.