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April 16, 2010

Report: Insurers Shifting Costs to Avoid Healthcare Laws
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A Senate panel says some of the nation’s largest insurance companies
have begun manipulating their accounting practices to avoid following
the new healthcare reform laws. In a new report, the Senate Committee on
Commerce, Science and Transportation says insurers are counting
administrative costs as medical costs to avoid requirements on how every
premium dollar is spent. The report cites the insurance giant Well Point
as having “‘reclassified’ more than half a billion dollars of
administrative expenses as medical expenses.” The news comes as the
insurance giant United Health Group has announced chief executive
Stephen Hemsley took home almost $100 million in compensation from
exercising stock options last year.



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