Julie Appleby

Insurance Policies Favoring Compounded Drugs For High-Risk Pregnancies Draw Scrutiny

When a brand-name drug to help prevent premature births was approved last year, its $1,500-a-dose-price alarmed state and private sector insurance officials. Many restricted use of the FDA-approved Makena in favor of $20- to $40-a-dose versions that had been made for years by pharmacies, saying that would give more women access to the treatment. Federal […]

Julie Appleby
By Julie Appleby
In this photo made available, Oct. 9, 2012, by the Minnesota Department of Health shows shows vials of the injectable steroid product made by New England Compounding Center implicated in a fungal meningitis outbreak that were being shipped to the CDC from Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Minnesota Department of Health, File)

When a brand-name drug to help prevent premature births was approved last year, its $1,500-a-dose-price alarmed state and private sector insurance officials. Many restricted use of the FDA-approved Makena in favor of $20- to $40-a-dose versions that had been made for years by pharmacies, saying that would give more women access to the treatment.

Read Full Article

Is A Competitive Health Care Model All It’s Cracked Up To Be?

By Julie Appleby and Marilyn Werber Serafini This story was produced in collaboration with the Atlantic. Republican vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan says his proposal to overhaul Medicare would use market competition to tame costs in the government health program relied on by almost 50 million people. As models, he often cites the health program for federal employees […]

Julie Appleby
By Julie Appleby
Dr. Hamsakumari Ramasubramaniam, left, examines patient Fabian Vasquez at Camillus Health Concern, Wednesday, June 27, 2012, in Miami. Camillus is a private, non-profit organization that provides health care to the homeless and poor in Miami-Dade County. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

By Julie Appleby and Marilyn Werber Serafini This story was produced in collaboration with the Atlantic. Republican vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan says his proposal to overhaul Medicare would use market competition to tame costs in the government health program relied on by almost 50 million people. As models, he often cites the

Read Full Article

Regulators Urged To Move Swiftly To Prevent ‘Rate Shocks’

Consumer groups on Monday said state and federal regulators should move quickly to set rules to protect Americans from health insurance premium “rate shocks” and to prevent insurers from charging far higher rates in low income areas, when major provisions of the federal health law take effect in 2014. Dozens of recommendations for implementing a […]

Julie Appleby
By Julie Appleby
Dr. Masahiro Narita, medical director of the Seattle-King County Public Health Dept.'s tuberculosis clinic, looks over chest X-rays of patients infected with TB. (AP Photo/John Froschauer)

Consumer groups on Monday said state and federal regulators should move quickly to set rules to protect Americans from health insurance premium “rate shocks” and to prevent insurers from charging far higher rates in low income areas, when major provisions of the federal health law take effect in 2014. Dozens of recommendations for implementing a

Read Full Article

New Consumer Protections Depend On High Court’s Ruling

The Supreme Court’s decision to uphold or strike down the health law could bolster — or undo — the most far-reaching changes ever legislated affecting the insurance industry and its customers. Riding on the outcome are a host of popular consumer protections, many aimed at the estimated 18 million Americans who buy their own coverage […]

Julie Appleby
By Julie Appleby
The Supreme Court Building is seen, Thursday, March 5, 2009, on Capitol Hill in Washington. The Supreme Court has several options in ruling on President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul, from upholding the law to striking it down in its entirety. The court also could avoid deciding the law’s constitutionality at all, if it finds the lawsuits challenging the law are premature. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

The Supreme Court's decision to uphold or strike down the health law could bolster -- or undo -- the most far-reaching changes ever legislated affecting the insurance industry and its customers. Riding on the outcome are a host of popular consumer protections, many aimed at the estimated 18 million Americans who buy their own coverage and who

Read Full Article