Women generally pay “much more” than men of the same age for identical individual health insurance policies, according to data from insurance companies and online brokers, the
reports. Insurance companies say that this is because women ages 19 to 55 typically use more health services than men, especially during their childbearing years. According to the insurers, women are more likely than men to visit doctors, to get regular checkups, to take prescription Read the rest of this entry »

Dutchess County will spend about $2.5 million this year to provide health insurance for 195 employees and elected officials who are not required to contribute to their premiums, a Poughkeepsie Journal investigation found.
The 195 employees and elected officials include 152 managers, five confidential employees hired before Jan. 1, 1982, five full-time elected officials, 20 part-time county legislators, and nine jail employees and four deputy sheriffs Read the rest of this entry »

Akron, OH
Albuquerque, NM
Anaheim, CA
Anchorage, AK
Arlington, TX
Atlanta, GA
Aurora, CO
Austin, TX
Bakersfield, CA
Baltimore, MD
Baton Rouge, LA
Birmingham, AL
Boston, MA
Buffalo, NY
Chandler, AZ
Charlotte, NC
Chesapeake, VA
Chicago, IL
Chula Vista, CA
Cincinnati, OH
Cleveland, OH
Colorado Springs, CO
Columbus, OH
Corpus Christi, TX
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Denver, CO
Detroit, MI
Durham, NC
El Paso, TX
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Governor Deval Patrick yesterday accelerated his administration’s efforts to control spiraling statewide healthcare costs, warning that rising premiums threaten to crush families and businesses and doom Massachusetts’ groundbreaking experiment with universal insurance.
Patrick said officials are considering using state insurance regulations to block excessive healthcare premiums. He is also summoning leaders of insurance and hospital companies for Read the rest of this entry »

Should King County government workers — like most other employed people — begin paying part of their health-care insurance premiums?
That’s a question some Metropolitan King County Council members are asking after trimming $93 million from the county’s 2009 general fund and bracing for more cuts in 2010 and 2011.
Council members Jane Hague and Kathy Lambert, Republicans from Bellevue and Redmond respectively, are drafting legislation Read the rest of this entry »

LINCOLN, Neb. – Health care premiums are rising faster than Nebraskans’ wages at the same time they are bracing for a dip in the economy.
A study released on Thursday shows that family health insurance premiums in Nebraska grew 3.2 times faster than wages from 2000 to 2007, with no end to the increases in sight.
Both the total, average family premium in Nebraska and the portion paid by workers during the eight-year period rose by about 69 percent, Read the rest of this entry »

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. health insurance premiums rose 5 percent on average this year and more companies shifted an additional share of the cost to workers, an annual survey of businesses said on Wednesday.
The average premium for a family’s health insurance provided by an employer rose to $12,680. Employees paid $3,354 of that cost on average, according to the survey by the nonprofit Kaiser Family Foundation and the Health Research & Educational Read the rest of this entry »

The Maryland Health Insurance Plan said Wednesday it will offer reduced premiums for individuals and families with limited income.
MHIP provides health insurance to those who aren’t eligible for Medicare, don’t qualify for Medicaid, can’t afford private health insurance or who can’t get coverage because of specific health conditions.
About 15,000 Marylanders are enrolled in MHIP and the new reductions would apply to about Read the rest of this entry »

Associated Press – October 23, 2008 12:45 PM ET
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) – Family health insurance premiums in Nebraska grew about three times faster than wages from 2000 to 2007.
That is according to a state-by-state study released on Thursday by Families USA, a national health care advocacy group.
The study says the average family premium in Nebraska during the 8-year period rose more than 69%. During the same period, median earnings rose a little Read the rest of this entry »

CHARLESTON, W.Va. – West Virginia workers' health insurance premiums increased four times faster than their wages during the past eight years, according to a report released Wednesday.
For family health-care coverage, an employee's portion of health insurance premiums in West Virginia rose from $1,650 a year on average to more than $2,500 a year – a 50 percent jump. 
Median wages, meanwhile, increased only 18 percent – from $19,000 to Read the rest of this entry »