A Goldman Sachs Group Inc. analysis found that, if the Senate Finance Committee’s health care reform legislation is enacted, Medicare cuts will reduce the five major health insurance companies’ earnings by 50 percent.   Of the five major companies—UnitedHealth Group Inc., Humana Inc., Cigna Inc., WellPoint Inc., and Aetna Inc.—Humana will be the most affected while Cigna will be the least affected because of its low number of Medicare enrollees.  Goldman Sachs also estimates that the legislation would halve profit margins on individual and small-group policies to 3 percent over 10 years but double the number of enrollees to 20 million.

Full article: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=ajUZG_1UTWm8

According to SK&A Healthcare Information Solutions’ (SK&A) Physician Office Acceptance of Government Insurance Programs Report, 83 percent of physicians’ offices accept Medicare and 65 percent accept Medicaid.  In addition, this report found that Medicare and Medicaid acceptance varied by size, ownership, location, and specialty of physicians’ practices.  Larger practices are more likely to accept Medicare patients than smaller practices, while hospital-owned practices are more likely to accept Medicaid than non-hospital-owned practices.

Press release: http://www.pr.com/press-release/188966

Preliminary results of a survey of 400 employers conducted by the non-profit Integrated Benefits Institute (IBI) found that employers plan to increase funding for health and productivity programs, which are designed to encourage healthy lifestyles.  The survey found that roughly 5 percent of employers with health and productivity management programs plan to reduce their funding while more than 30 percent of employers with such plans intend to increase funding over the next two years.  IBI will release the full survey results later this year.

More information available here: http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS131035+14-Sep-2009+PRN20090914

In mid-September, a Watson Wyatt Worldwide survey of 160 employers found that only 19 percent favor a tax on health insurers as a revenue source for health care reform and only 11 percent favor counting employer-paid health care premiums as individual’s income.  The survey also found that 73 percent of employers believe that health care reform will increase health care costs. Even more (86 percent) think the health care proposals being considered would weaken the role employer-sponsored plans play in providing health care coverage. On expanding access, the poll found that only 10 percent of respondents would support an employer mandate, while half (50 percent) would support an individual mandate. Ten percent would support both, and 30 percent would not support either.

The press release and contact information to receive full report are available here: http://www.watsonwyatt.com/us/news/press.asp?ID=22372

On May 27, 2009 the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania ruled against the Insurance Federation of Pennsylvania and upheld the certification and referral to addiction treatment by licensed physicians and psychologists under Pennsylvania’s Act 106 of 1989. 

Act 106 requires all group health insurance plans to provide comprehensive treatment for alcohol and other drug addiction with access to treatment provided through certification and referral by a licensed physician or licensed psychologist.  The Supreme Court determined that the issue presented in the case was "whether the statutory mandate precludes the application of utilization review for medical necessity and appropriateness of the mandated treatment" and concluded "that managed care plans may not apply utilization review to abrogate or alter the sole statutory prerequisites to obtaining treatment for alcohol and drug abuse, i.e., certification and referral by a licensed physician or licensed psychologist.”

Download the complete decision here: PA Supreme Court Ruling May2009Act_106.pdf (113.05 kb)

A poll conducted by the Closing the Addiction Treatment Gap initiative between May 29 and June 1, 2009 and funded by the Open Society Institute found that 73 percent of Americans support including alcohol and drug addiction treatment as part of national health care reform. 

Topline results of the poll are available here: http://www.soros.org/initiatives/treatmentgap/research/poll_20090616/poll_results_20090616.pdf