Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!news.media.mit.edu!americast.com!usa-post Newsgroups: usa-today.insur From: usa-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: usa-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: insur Wed, Feb 26 1992 Date: Wed, 26 Feb 92 06:30:01 EST Message-ID: DECISIONLINE: Insurance USA TODAY Update Feb. 26, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network SENIORS SEE CARE COSTS RISING: Medicare's creation three decades ago has failed to control the elderly's out-of-pocket health-care costs, a report released Tuesday said. Out-of-pocket costs now account for $1 of every $6 spent in the average senior citizen's household, according to a study by Families USA, a public interest group pushing for health-care cost controls. (For more, see special Seniors package below.) ALLIANCE CLASHES WITH AIA: The Alliance of American Insurers has taken aim at a proposal by the American Insurance Association that calls for dual state and federal regulation of the insurance industry. Alliance President Rodger Lawson says he doubted another layer of regulation, doubling the $500 million already spent to oversee insurers, would help consumers. Cited: Federal regulation of savings and loans. FLA. EMPLOYERS AMENDS AGREEMENT: Florida Employers Insurance Co., George Town, British West Indies, has agreed with FCCI Investment Group Inc. to amend certain provisions of FCCI's pending acquisition of the insurer. The amendment extends the deadline for calling a shareholder meeting to vote on the deal from March 15 to March 20 and extends the deadline for the closing of the transaction from March 21 to March 30. HEALTHCARE E-MAIL SYSTEM SHOWN: National Electronic Information Corporation and MCI Telecommunications Corp. introduced two new services Tuesday designed to streamline communications between health-care providers and health-care payers. NEIC-Mail and NEIC-Fax-Mail allow health-care providers to respond to requests from insurance carriers for additional information either by electronic mail or facsimile. NEIC WILL AID INDUSTRY: With NEIC, health-care providers receive a daily claims status exception report listing individually each claim that could not be processed by the participating health-care payer without additional information about the claim. With NEIC, the health-care provider can use a standardized script to send the participating health-care payer the corrected or requested information instantly. BILL TO TAX PROVIDERS KILLED: Virginia Gov. Douglas Wilder lost his crusade to impose a tax on health care providers to help offset soaring Medicaid costs last week when the Virginia House killed the measure on a voice vote. Wilder said the influence of well-financed hospital lobbyists had hurt his measure with lawmakers. PIEDMONT UNIT BUYS COMPANIES: Reinsurance Corporation of New York, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Piedmont Management Co. Inc., New York, recently acquired two companies with which it has had ongoing business relationships. Bought: United Reinsurance Corporation of New York and Continental National Corp, Cincinnati. ASTHMA DRUGS LINKED TO DEATHS: Doctors are re-examining the way they prescribe drugs to treat asthma. One new study shows that treatment with a class of inhaled drugs called beta-2 agonists - especially fenoterol - was closely associated with deaths and near-fatal attacks. The study, using insurance databases from Saskatchewan, Canada, found 129 such cases among 12,301 asthma patients. NEWBORNS NOT GETTING CARE: Newborns who test positive in state-mandated screenings for many diseases may still not get the medical treatment they need. The infants can suffer chronic illness or death without this care. So claims a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Reasons ranged from inability to find families to not understanding the illness. Better education programs are suggested. SPECIAL PACKAGE ON SENIORS: HEALTH-CARE EXPENSES DOUBLE: Adjusted for inflation, after-tax health-care expenses that are not paid by Medicare or private insurance have doubled for seniors since 1961. The average household headed by someone 65 or older spent $3,305, or 17.1% of its income, on out-of-pocket health care bills in 1991, the report said. In 1961, such a household spent $347, or 10.6% of its income. MEDICARE LEAVES MANY EXPENSES: Pollack said seniors end up paying for services not covered by Medicare. Medicare does not pay for long-term care, such as nursing home stays, which represents the single greatest expense faced by seniors. It also does not cover prescription drugs or treatment for vision, hearing or dental problems. PREMIUMS HAVE RISEN SHARPLY: In 1980, Medicare recipients paid a $104 annual premium and deductibles were $180 for hospital care and $60 for doctor care - a total yearly cost share of $344. In 1992, subscribers are paying a $381.60 annual premium; deductibles are $652 for hospital care and $100 for doctor care - a yearly cost share of $1,133.60, or triple the 1980 amount. (End of package.) Insurance Editor: Michele Coleman. (1-919-855-3491) Making copies of USA TODAY Update (Copyright, 1992) for further distribution violates federal law. 08:0002260000D0226 INTE- R D Mandela-attacks-vote.................. A D0226 This article is copyright 1992 Gannett News Service. 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