Recent Articles
Increasing Unemployment Contributing To Rising Ranks Of Uninsured
The rising rate of unemployment has contributed to an increase in the number of uninsured people because workers who lose their jobs often lose their health benefits, the New York Times reports. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, about 10.3 million U.S....
Humana commercial and Medicare PPO members now have access to Sisters of St. Francis Health Services
Effective November 1, 2008, members of Humana's commercial and Medicare PPO (CHC and CPOS) plans will have access to Sisters of St. Francis Health Services facilities in the northwest Indiana area (Chicago market) for all covered inpatient and outpatient services....
MetLife introduces Graduating Dental Benefits for group plans
Graduating Dental Benefits from MetLife encourages participants to maintain their dental coverage from their employer plan and provides enhanced coverage to help ALL participants achieve and/or maintain good oral health. Participants, including dependents, are...
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois replacing BlueExtras with Members First discount program
Effective January 1, 2009, the current Members First discount program will be replaced with the BlueExtras discount program. All BCBSIL members enrolled in individual health plans are eligible for the BlueExtras discount program. BlueExtras offers discounts on...
Rush University facilities leaving Humana’s network effective December 31, 2008
Effective December 31, 2008, Rush University facilities will be considered out-of-network for Humana® members. The following facilities are included in this network change: * Rush University Medical Center * Rush Oak Park Hospital * Rush-Copley Medical Center *...
Assurant Health expands TelaDoc™ eligibility
Assurant Health's MaxPlan and CoreMed plans without the office visit copay, and OneDeductible plans include TelaDoc membership, a service that offers physician access — 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and 365 days a year. Beginning on November 1, 2008, TelaDoc expanded...
Assurant Health increasing SuiteSolutions® deductible
The accident medical expense (AME) deductible for SuiteSolutions Secure and Select is changing to $250 for new policies with effective dates of January 1, 2009 and later. In addition, the table below shows the new Health Advocates Alliance (HAA) monthly membership...
Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 Update
As part of the economic stabilization package (H.R. 1424), Congress passed mental health parity legislation which was signed into law on October 3, 2008, by President Bush as Public Law No: 110-343. This new law amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act...
Advocate Health Care acquiring Condell Medical Center
Advocate Health Care's is acquiring Condell Medical Center effective December 1, 2008. The new name of the hospital will be Advocate Condell Medical Center. As of the December 1 acquisition date, the Advocate Condell Medical Center will return to the Blue Cross Blue...
2009 Medicare Open Enrollment for Prescription Drug Coverage begins Novemeber 15th, 2008
The 2009 Medicare annual Open Enrollment Period for prescription drug plans runs from November 15th through December 31, 2008. Medicare beneficiaries will be able to begin making enrollment changes in their health and prescription drug coverage for 2009 if necessary...