Contraceptives, Catholics & Controversy: What's the Real Deal?

Submitted by Erin Gill on February 9, 2012 - 2:03pm
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If you’ve caught the news in recent days, you’re probably wondering what’s going on with the issue of contraceptives and the Catholic Church. 

Here’s the deal:

One of the biggest goals of the Affordable Care Act -- aside from making coverage accessible to those who are currently shut out of the system now -- was putting a bigger focus on wellness and preventive care by giving everyone better tools to keep themselves healthy. 

Important Consumer Issues Come to Light

Submitted by Athena Ford on February 6, 2012 - 12:07pm

A series of articles ran over the weekend addressing PHAN's critque of the Pennsylvania Insurance Department's draft legislation for our competitive health insurance marketplace.

Check out the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's piece and then check out PHAN's Checklist for a fair, consumer-friendly marketplace.

 

Checklist for a fair, consumer-friendly marketplace

Submitted by Athena Ford on February 6, 2012 - 11:07am

In the next couple months, our legislators will be establishing a competitive marketplace where the uninsured and small business owners can purchase insurance.  For individuals and families making less than 400% of the Federal Poverty Line there will be subsidies to help with the costs; there will be tax credits to help small business owners.

Pennsylvania Moving Forward on Insurance Marketplace; Industry Working to Influence Lawmakers to Do the "Bare Minimum"

Submitted by Erin Gill on January 22, 2012 - 10:45pm
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In an email today, the Pennsylvania Insurance Department announced it’s intent to move forward on establishing a health insurance marketplace in PA. The Department has applied for funding from the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to complete the planning and begin designing a new health insurance marketplace (an “exchange”) that needs to be open for business on January 1, 2014. 

BREAKING: Bill to Give Health Insurers More Leeway to Raise Rates Passes

Submitted by Athena Ford on December 15, 2011 - 3:00pm

SB 1336 just passed through the General Assembly and is headed to the to the Governor's desk for his siganture. 

The good news is that commercial plans (meaning not just the 'non-profit' Blues and HMO's) will actually be subject to review when they want to hike up rates on small businesses. Unfortunately, our legislators missed a golden opportunity to put some real protections in place for small employers in our state.