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May 15, 2009
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MHMR May 15, 2009; Volume 17, Number 9
Health costs to rise 7.4%...Individual market changes likely…Trade groups clarify savings plan…HSA changes proposed…Lilly CEO slams public plan…HSA 2010 max contribution rises…Financing healthcare reform…Kaiser 1Q09 net jumps…Healthcare reform excitement…and more…
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HEALTH COSTS TO RISE 7.4%
Healthcare costs are expected to rise 7.4% in 2009, according to an annual forecast by Milliman Inc. (Seattle), the third consecutive year in which the rate of increase in healthcare expenditures has slowed.
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BIG CHANGES TO INDIVIDUAL MARKET LIKELY
If the list of healthcare reform policy options released by the Senate Finance Committee is any guide, the individual and small group health insurance markets will undergo considerable reform in the years ahead.
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TRADE GROUPS CLARIFY SAVINGS PLAN
A broad coalition of healthcare industry trade groups representing insurers, doctors, hospitals and drug makers pledged that they would voluntarily work to meet President Obama’s goal of slowing the annual rate of increase in healthcare cost by 150 basis points or $2 trillion over 10 years.
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SENATE FINANCE PROPOSES HSA CHANGES
The Senate Finance Committee’s policy options for financing healthcare reform include three potential limits on health savings accounts. The first would “restrict HSA contributions to the lesser of the individual’s deductible or the statutory limit.”
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ELI LILLY CEO CALLS PUBLIC PLAN ‘SLIPPERY SLOPE’
John Lechleiter, chairman and CEO of drug maker Eli Lilly, said in a speech to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, “A public plan to reduce the number of Americans without insurance is a slippery slope towards the day when all or most Americans would get their health insurance through a government-run plan.
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KAISER 1Q09 NET INCOME RISES 72% OPTIONS
Kaiser Permanente (Oakland, CA) reported first-quarter 2009 net income of $430 million, up 72% from the same period last year, with less severe investment losses accounting for part of the gain.
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