Allan Fine

..Several insurers are engaged in price competition, placing downward pressure on policy costs. But overall, insurers are still careful about their underwriting and pricing...

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..The employer group is united around the belief that current health plan designs and cost-sharing strategies are short-sighted. They are looking for additional companies to join this organization...

..ERISA allows patients to recover the value af whatever test, drug, or treatment was denied, but not damages for any injuries that result from a lack of care...

..Employers should also determine whether the CAM benefit is likely to reduce overall medical costs by decreasing use of treatments such as surgery, physical therapy, and pharmaceuticals...

..The USP proposal is expected to result in a final plan after the organization takes comments. It is also supposed to define a list of classes of drugs--more formally divided into therapeutic areas and pharmacologic subcategories...

..Given the technology's enormous cost, coupled with the difficulty of persuading busy physicians to change the way they practice, as well as the privacy concerns, adoption has been slowed...

..Those who do use the Internet to gather health information are more likely to be white, well-educated, and higher-paid...

..This scenario suggests that insurers are more likely to be competing for customers and competing on the basis of price...

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