Tag: health insurance
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Health-insurance companies ask state for rate increases averaging 17 percent; failure of non-profit insurer blamed
Department of Insurance website Health insurers want rate increases averaging 22.3 percent in 2017 for individual policies in Kentucky. Counting small-group plans, the overall increase would be 17 percent, “continuing...
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Health-care consumers get little help resolving complaints, columnist says, citing some horrific examples
By Trudy Lieberman Rural Health News Service Who protects consumers of health care? Two recent emails from readers got me thinking about that question. I don’t mean consumers in their...
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Air ambulances save lives in rural Kentucky, but are costly; Junction City buys Air Evac memberships for everyone in town
Medical helicopters are especially important to rural Kentucky because they get people to the medical care they need quickly, but this service comes at a cost that many can’t afford,...
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Insurance commissioner sues contractor for failed Kentucky Health Cooperative, alleging gross negligence in handling claims
State Insurance Commissioner Brian Maynard, acting as liquidator of the failed Kentucky Health Cooperative, filed suit in Franklin Circuit Court Friday against against the company that the co-op hired to...
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Health-insurance stocks fall in reaction to federal judge striking down one Obamacare subsidy; ruling is stayed pending appeal
“Shares of Humana, Aetna and other health insurance companies tumbled on Thursday, as a federal judge ruled that Affordable Care Act subsidies could not be dispensed without congressional approval,” Boris...
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Study shows uninsured rate keeps falling, preventive services are popular and rural hospitals have more uncompensated care
By Melissa Patrick Kentucky Health News The share of Kentuckians without health insurance continues to drop, and new Medicaid enrollees continue to take advantage of free preventive health services, according...
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Many Americans, including those on Obamacare plans, can’t afford their health-insurance deductibles, studies show
The United States has entered the era of high out-of-pocket medical cost as a way to keep insurance premiums low, but recent studies have found that many Americans are having...
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Humana leaving some state health-insurance exchanges to cut its Obamacare losses
Humana Inc. said last week that it may leave some state health-insurance exchanges to cut its losses, and then left two, in Alabama and Virginia. “Humana also continues to reel...
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Prescription drug addiction not only comes at a personal cost to individuals, but also at an enormous cost to employers
By Melissa Patrick Kentucky Health News With nearly one of three opioid prescriptions being abused, employers are not only subsidizing the cost of these drugs, they are also paying for...
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UnitedHealth will leave Ky. next year, leaving much of the state with only one or two choices for health insurance on exchange
UnitedHealth Group Inc. won’t be participating in Kentucky’s individual insurance plans offered through the Affordable Care Act marketplace next year, which could leave about 20 percent of the state with...