Report: US Health System Wastes $750B A Year

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. health care system squanders $750 billion a year _ roughly 30 cents of every medical dollar _ through unneeded care, byzantine paperwork, fraud and other waste, the influential Institute of Medicine said Thursday in a report that ties directly into the presidential campaign.

President Barack Obama and Republican Mitt Romney are accusing each other of trying to slash Medicare and put seniors at risk. But the counter-intuitive finding from the report is that deep cuts are possible without rationing, and a leaner system may even produce better quality.

"Health care in America presents a fundamental paradox," said the report from an 18-member panel of prominent experts, including doctors, business people, and public officials. "The past 50 years have seen an explosion in biomedical knowledge, dramatic innovation in therapies and surgical procedures, and management of conditions that previously were fatal ...

"Yet, American health care is falling short on basic dimensions of quality, outcomes, costs and equity," the report concluded.

If banking worked like health care, ATM transactions would take days, the report said. If home building were like health care, carpenters, electricians and plumbers would work from different blueprints and hardly talk to each other. If shopping were like health care, prices would not be posted and could vary widely within the same store, depending on who was paying.

If airline travel were like health care, individual pilots would be free to design their own preflight safety checks _ or not perform one at all.

How much is $750 billion? The one-year estimate of health care waste is equal to more than ten years of Medicare cuts in Obama's health care law. It's more than the Pentagon budget. It's more than enough to care for the uninsured.

Getting health care costs better controlled is one of the keys to reducing the deficit, the biggest domestic challenge facing the next president. The report did not lay out a policy prescription for Medicare and Medicaid but suggested there's plenty of room for lawmakers to find a path.

Both Obama and Romney agree there has to be a limit to Medicare spending, but they differ on how to get that done. Obama would rely on a powerful board to cut payments to service providers, while gradually changing how hospitals and doctors are paid to reward results instead of volume. Romney would limit the amount of money future retirees can get from the government for medical insurance, relying on the private market to find an efficient solution. Each accuses of the other of jeopardizing the well-being of seniors.

But panel members urged a frank discussion with the public about the value Americans are getting for their health care dollars. As a model, they cited "Choosing Wisely," a campaign launched earlier this year by nine medical societies to challenge the widespread perception that more care is better.
resource:http://insurancenewsnet.com/article.aspx?id=356557&type=breakingnews#.UE87Y_Jic8o

Read more »

43 States Take Part In $10M Allianz Settlement

Iowa Insurance Division - September 6, 2012-The Iowa Insurance Division announced that a multi-state settlement agreement has been reached between Allianz Life Insurance Company (Allianz) and 43 States. Iowa acted as the managing lead state in the settlement and was assisted by three other lead states: Minnesota, Missouri and Florida. An additional thirty-nine states have now signed on to the agreement. The agreement establishes corrective actions, a remediation plan and levies a ten million dollar penalty to be distributed among the participating states.

The settlement was a result of a review of company practices related to the sale of fixed annuities by Allianz between the years of 2001 and 2008. Regulators reviewed how Allianz and its insurance producers sold its products, how the products worked and how the products performed. This multi-state settlement is limited to fixed annuities issued from 2001 through 2008.

A corrective action plan will require the company to change the format of its policy annual reports, maintain current company training and monitoring of its agents, change some aspects of its complaint handling, and require conformity with some of the monitoring provisions of the National Association of Insurance Commissioner (NAIC) Replacement Model. The company is required to submit reports to the lead states to confirm its compliance with the agreement.

Allianz is also required to implement a remediation plan to review complaints previously filed by its customers who purchased a fixed annuity between 2001 and 2008. Under the plan, prior complaints will be evaluated according to the standards listed in the settlement. If a complaint is found to be justified, the consumer will be offered retroactive cancellation of their policy, with a full refund of premiums.

Allianz will also accept new complaints from policyholders who purchased a fixed annuity between 2001 and 2008 and who have not yet submitted a complaint. The deadline for new complaints to be filed with the company is March 31, 2013.

The amount of the fine to be received by each of the participating states will vary based on the final number of the states who sign the agreement and the number of affected policies in each participating state. Iowa’s share is expected to be approximately $150,000.

“We’re very pleased to have reached this settlement,” said Iowa’s Insurance Commissioner Susan Voss. “This is a great example of several states jointly and collaboratively taking action to review a company. It will benefit the participating states; allow current customers an opportunity for a review of their individual cases and assure that the practices of the company are or will be in line with the standards established by state regulators.”

Iowans who purchased a fixed annuity from Allianz between 2001 and 2008 who have questions about this settlement or the process of filing a complaint can contact the Iowa Insurance Division at 877-955-1212.

Resource:http://insurancenewsnet.com/article.aspx?id=356565&type=breakingnews#.UE86kPJic8o

Read more »