Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
After Years Of Rising Deductibles For Workers, Some Employers Are Tapping The Brakes
Company leaders are grappling with how to deal with the rising cost of health insurance in ways that get beyond the longtime strategy of simply passing on more of the burden to workers. 鈥淭he CEOs of our clients are more involved in the health-care benefits program than I鈥檝e seen in 25 years,鈥 says Jim Winkler, a senior vice president at consulting firm Aon PLC. 鈥淚t鈥檚, 鈥榃hat are we spending our money on, and does it make sense?鈥 鈥 (Wilde Mathews, 12/2)
As state and federal officials increasingly search for ways to curb rising health care costs, a decades-old idea is gaining traction: helping people with challenges that have nothing to do with medical care but everything to do with their health.聽Insurers are taking steps as simple as paying for hot meal deliveries and outreach to homebound people and replacing air filters in homes with asthmatic children. More radical approaches include building affordable housing for people who don鈥檛 have a stable home of their own. (Williams, 12/3)
And in more news聽鈥
A Wyoming legislative committee has quietly put together a series of bills that is looking at the high cost of health care in the state as well as making health care more accessible. At a recent meeting of the legislature's Health and Labor Committee, Senator Charles Scott stated that consumers pay a lot for health care in the state. (Beck, 11/30)
