Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission Releases March 2021 Report to Congress
Targeted News Service
March 15, 2021:
March 2021 Report to
Congress on Medicaid and CHIP today, recommending that
Congress adopt measures aimed at improving Medicaid s responsiveness during economic downturns; addressing concerns about high rates of maternal morbidity and mortality; and reexamining Medicaid s estate recovery policies. The report also contains additional topics of interest to
Congress such as integrating care for people who are dually eligible for Medicaid and Medicare, and improving hospital payment policy for the nation s safety net hospitals. This report offers
Congress a number of timely recommendations it can take to improve Medicaid s programmatic response to national challenges related to the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as racial and ethnic disparities in health, said MACPAC Chair
The Oregon Division of Financial Regulation issued $220,000 in civil penalties, and Raymond James Financial Services, Inc. agreed to pay $123,279 in restitution to the victims of the excessive trading practices of Gary Dodds.
Dodds, a stock broker for Raymond James Financial Services, conducted churning, a method of excessive trading to receive additional commissions, on several of his clients’ accounts from 2016 to 2018, according to court documents.
The division’s investigation revealed Dodds made unsuitable recommendations and sales of securities for his clients and failed to maintain proper documentation of his trading activities, Oregon officials said in a news release. The division also learned that Raymond James Financial Services was aware of his actions, but did not take adequate corrective steps.
“COVID-19 has mucked up the insurance marketplace as a whole – including private employer-provided plans,” said Michael Giusti, InsuranceQuotes.com analyst.
Giusti outlined a number of key takeaway for health insurance in 2021 in a recent report for Insurancequotes.com.
First, he said, the pandemic made setting premiums especially challenging. Premiums are set based on the previous year’s claims data. Because 2020 was marked by a combination of huge intensive care costs, but almost no preventative care costs, that model was flipped on its head. As a result, median health premium edged up just a percent or two in 2021.
But many in the insurance industry are holding their collective breath as things get back to normal, he noted. A major worry is that deferred care will come crashing through the system by this summer, representing a flood of claims once people are willing to see a doctor again.
Milliman analysis: Competitive pricing rate for pension risk transfer costs drops to 99.3% in February
PR Newswire
SEATTLE,
March 16, 2021 /PRNewswire/ Milliman, Inc., a premier global consulting and actuarial firm, today announced the latest results of its Milliman Pension Buyout Index (MPBI). As the Pension Risk Transfer (PRT) market continues to grow, it has become increasingly important to monitor the annuity market for plan sponsors that are considering transferring retiree pension obligations to an insurer.
During February, the average estimated cost to transfer retiree pension risk to an insurer dropped slightly, from 102.4% of a plan s total liabilities to 102.1% of those liabilities. This means the average estimated retiree PRT cost for the month is now 2.1% more than those plans retiree accumulated benefit obligation (ABO). Annuity purchase costs reflecting competition amongst insurers also decreased, from 99.6% in January to 99.3% in February.
They were married 61 years. Here s the story behind the last photo ever taken of them.
Charlotte Observer (NC)
Mar. 16 There were moments in recent years when
Deborah Goodman felt like her parents were living on borrowed time, kept alive almost improbably by both the wonders of modern medicine and a team of first-rate physicians.
Yet, there also were moments when Deborah felt like her mom and her stepfather were doing quite well all things considered, and might be able to keep on ticking for still a little bit longer. They got their first doses of a COVID-19 vaccine at the end of January.