April 28, 2011 By Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Republican plan to privatize Medicare wouldn’t touch his benefits, but Walter Dotson still doesn’t like the idea. He worries about the consequences long after he’s gone, for the grandson he is raising.

“I’d certainly hate to see him without the benefits that I’ve got,” said Dotson, 72, steering a high school sophomore toward adulthood.

The loudest objections to the GOP Medicare plan are coming from seniors, who swung to Republicans in last year’s congressional elections, and many have been complaining at town-hall meetings with their representatives during the current congressional recess. Some experts say GOP policymakers may have overlooked a defining trait among older people: concern for the welfare of the next generations.

“I remember the days when we had poor farms and elderly people on welfare, before we had Social Security and Medicare for seniors, and I’m afraid it will lead right back to that situation,” added Dotson, from the village of Cleveland in rural southwest Virginia.

What’s driving seniors’ Medicare fears? | BenefitsPro

 April 25, 2011 By Jenny Ivy

Although the cost of claims for employer-sponsored health plans are slightly lower than six months ago, a new study finds these costs are rising at double-digit rates.

Wells Fargo Insurance Services recently surveyed 60 insurance companies between February and March.

Reflecting claim activity over a six-month period, projected increases in the national average cost of claims include

Survey: Claim costs rise for employer plans | BenefitsPro

Barbour’s Medicaid claims counter facts | BenefitsPro 

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Gov. Haley Barbour, a potential 2012 Republican presidential candidate, played fast and loose with his state’s Medicaid enrollment numbers this week as he spoke in Washington and chatted up voters in the early primary state of New Hampshire.

“Our rolls dropped from 750,000 to 580,000 in the first couple of years,” Barbour said Tuesday on Capitol Hill, referring to Medicaid enrollment trends after he took office in January 2004. That would be a 22.7 percent decline.

The problem is, Barbour’s numbers are misleading, according to statistics provided by his own administration.

The Mississippi Governor’s Office Division of Medicaid had a different way of counting Medicaid enrollment under Barbour’s predecessor, Democrat Ronnie Musgrove. The program changed its counting method in 2006, about midway through Barbour’s first term.

Barbour’s Medicaid claims counter facts | BenefitsPro

By Andrea Davis  December 13, 2010

U.S. employers believe that managing the changes resulting from health care reform is a critical business issue, yet few organizations have conducted a full analysis of the legislation’s financial impact, according to a new report from Ernst & Young.

Results of the survey of 381 executives show that companies across a variety of industries clearly recognize the need to plan adequately so they are in compliance with the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, with 84% of respondents stating that such planning is important.

New Ernst & Young report reveals key issues for U.S. companies on health care reform – Articles – Employee Benefit News