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Health Insurance Provider Anthem Reports Massive Data Breach

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 The nation’s second largest health insurer, Anthem, alerted its customers on Wednesday that hackers had stolen the personal information of likely tens of millions of customers. Personal information including addresses, birthdays, medical identification numbers, social security numbers and some income data belonging to both current and former customers were swept up in the cyber… Read More Reported by TechCrunch 8 hours ago.

Pacific Prime Reports Singapore Health Insurance Inflation Down in 2014

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Singapore has shown decreasing inflation rates on international private medical insurance for the past three years, and continues to follow the downward trend in 2014.

Singapore (PRWEB) February 05, 2015

Pacific Prime, through further analysis of their report on international private medical insurance (IPMI) inflation have found that after sharp increases in IPMI premiums in 2011, Singapore has in the consecutive three years seen inflation rates falling.

There is high level of healthcare in Singapore, with the city in 2014 being rated by Bloomberg as having the Most Efficient Health Care in the world and the Economist Intelligence Unit ranking it number 2 in the world for healthcare outcomes. A modern and efficient healthcare system that features quality medical staff comes with rising medical costs and invariably, higher insurance premiums. Yet 2014 saw singapore with a relatively low inflation rate of 7.1%, and was the lowest of the territories most similar to it (in inflation rates) previously, Hong Kong and China, who saw rates of 7.5% and 7.4% respectively.

The review from Pacific Prime drew parallels to ‘low cost’ countries in Asia such as Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines. It showed that where Singapore historically witnessed higher inflation rates than any of these countries, Singapore’s 2014 inflation rate matched their average: Thailand at 7.5% and Indonesia at 6.3%.

The report revealed how specific insurers fared within Singapore, and delivered good news in particular to InterGlobal clients who were the only insurer to see a decline in premiums of -6.8%. Every other insurer inflation rates increased, ranging from Allianz by 6.8%, to William Russell by 14.2%.

Pacific Prime attribute the aging population in Singapore to creating a toll on medical facilities and insurers’ bottom lines, and they have no assumptions that the increasing costs of medical care will slow. Similar IMPI inflation rates are expected in 2015 as a consequence of both global economies and local market trends. Reported by PRWeb 7 hours ago.

Anthem health insurance hack exposes details of over 80 million people

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Hackers have accessed millions of customer and employee details from US-based health insurance firm Anthem, including name addresses and social security numbers. The database that was accessed included details for roughly 80 million people, but Anthe... Reported by engadget 6 hours ago.

College students report more stress, less time to socialize

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SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Today's high school seniors aren't partying and socializing as much as their parents' generation — they're too busy trying to get into college, and when they get there, some don't feel good about themselves, a new survey reports. The annual survey of college freshmen by UCLA's Higher Education Research Institute found that incoming students at four-year colleges and universities last fall devoted half as many hours to hanging out with friends during their final year of high school as students who entered college in 1987, when the institute first asked respondents about hobnobbing habits. The results released Wednesday are consistent with other trends that indicate millennials face greater pressure to succeed academically and has less time to have fun, said Kevin Eagan, the institute's managing director and an assistant professor at UCLA "The declines we have seen in time spent partying and the frequency of alcohol use in high school and the increases we have seen in the number of college applications students are submitting and their reporting feeling overwhelmed are all signs students are internalizing this message that they need to take the last year of high school seriously," Eagan said. Dr. Gina Fleming, medical director of the University of California's student health insurance program, has been lobbying the 10-campus system's board to provide more money for counselors, psychologists and psychiatrists at student health centers. Reported by SeattlePI.com 7 hours ago.

Artemetrx Introduces Specialty Drug Advisor™ for Benefit Plan Sponsors

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The First Comprehensive Consulting Solution for Integrated Specialty Drug Management

Brentwood, TN (PRWEB) February 05, 2015

Artemetrx Specialty Drug Solutions, LLC, a national leader in the management of specialty drugs, today announced the launch of their specialty drug consulting solution, Specialty Drug Advisor™, which provides benefit plan sponsors with the advanced analytics, specialty drug expertise, and proprietary technology to manage specialty drug spend across both the pharmacy and medical benefit. These services, the first-of-its-kind in the marketplace, assist employers, labor groups, and health insurance plans in controlling specialty spend, reducing clinically inappropriate use, managing reimbursement, optimizing sites of care, and auditing vendor performance through data-driven identification and review.

“Benefit management and consulting models must evolve to keep pace with the primary source of increased drug spend—specialty drugs, which bring with them a host of unique and complex coverage issues.” Said Brenda Motheral, PhD, President of Artemetrx. “Larger plan sponsors, typically those with 10,000 covered lives or more, will see a significant return on investment by working with our specialty drug experts. Over the past two years, we have advised more than 50 plan sponsors across the U.S. to identify and capture specialty drug savings, which range from 10% to more than 20% of overall specialty spend.” said Dr. Motheral.

The Specialty Drug Advisor offering, an expansion of Artemetrx’s flagship Specialty Diagnostic™, is flexible and can range from individual initiatives to a complete transformation service with ongoing vendor and program monitoring. Specific features of this new offering from Artemetrx include:· Integrated Pharmacy and Medical Specialty Diagnostic™ for ongoing integrated claims review to identify savings opportunities, develop actionable strategies, and evaluate performance.

· Specialty Monitor™ web-based reporting tool that provides users with a comprehensive view of specialty drug spend across the pharmacy and medical benefit, and includes reimbursement, clinical, and site of care reporting.

· Specialty Pipeline Planner™ to proactively evaluate the economic impact of management options for specialty drugs that are new to the market.

· Vendor Audit and Oversight to review health plan and PBM performance and to uncover billing errors and other claims payment integrity issues for specialty drugs.

· Site of Care Optimization to proactively identify and promote use of the most cost-effective specialty providers across pharmacy and medical.

As part of the Specialty Drug Advisor launch, Artemetrx will offer two educational opportunities for plan sponsors in February, the white paper, Specialty Drug Savings: What Have We Learned?, and the webinar, The Economics of Hepatitis C Drug Coverage Options, to be held on Thursday, February 26, 11:30 AM CST. Register for the webinar at artemetrx.com

About Artemetrx Specialty Drug Solutions
Based in Brentwood, Tennessee, Artemetrx Specialty Drug Solutions is a national firm working with clients across the U.S. to provide advanced analytics, consulting, and customized solutions to help plan sponsors better control specialty drug spend and improve the quality of care. With industry-recognized analytics and clinical experts steeped in specialty knowledge, Artemetrx offers technology and clinical-based solutions to deliver significant cost savings for specialty drugs across the pharmacy and medical benefit. The company offers these services to a variety of health care organizations, plan sponsors, and the members they serve. Learn more at artemetrx.com Reported by PRWeb 7 hours ago.

Blue Cross-Blue Shield of Ga. parent hacked; could affect 80 million

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Anthem, Inc., the parent company of Blue Cross-Blue Shield of Georgia, says as many as 80 million customers have had their account information stolen. The Georgia division is among groups affected, the company said. Anthem is the country's second-largest health insurance company. Other company plans/brands affected include: Anthem Blue Cross, Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield, Empire Blue Cross and Blue Shield, Amerigroup, Caremore, Unicare, Healthlink, and DeCare. Hackers gained access to Anthem's… Reported by bizjournals 5 hours ago.

Anthem Health Insurer Breached, Data on Millions Exposed

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Anthem Health Insurer Breached, Data on Millions Exposed The computer systems of Indianapolis-based company Anthem, one of the biggest players on the health insurance market, have been breached and sensitive information of present and former customers has been accessed without authorization. It is not clear when the intruders managed to penetrate the systems of the company or when exactly the attack was detected, but as soon as Anthem learned about the breach, efforts to close the security gap were made and an investigation into the matter was star... Reported by Softpedia 5 hours ago.

Orlando second-highest in Florida for health insurance enrollment

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The Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford metro area enrolled 162,125 people through the HealthCare.gov platform as of Jan. 30, according to a new report from the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. With only 11 days left in the open enrollment period for individuals to get health insurance through HealthCare.gov for coverage in 2015, South Florida leads not only the state, but also the nation in the number of people who have taken advantage of the system using the HealthCare.gov platform. As of Jan.… Reported by bizjournals 4 hours ago.

Autopaying Bills Is Supposed to Be Simple - Only It's Not

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Autopaying Bills Is Supposed to Be Simple - Only It's Not Filed under: Family Money, Personal Finance, Budgeting, Budgeting Tools

*Alamy*

By Geoff Williams

Missed payments can lead to a financial tsunami. Forget to pay your electric bill, and you could find yourself in a dark, Internet-less house. Miss a payment on life insurance, and you could lose your policy -- which, at worst, could catapult your family into financial jeopardy if, say, you passed away, and at best, could cost you higher rates once you apply for a new policy. Miss a credit card payment, and it can cost you more money in interest. Forget to pay your health insurance, and goodbye health insurance.

You get the idea. There's very little upside to ever missing a payment for anything, but plenty of people still forget to make them. According to a 2014 survey of 3,021 adults ages 21 and older, 36 percent of consumers had paid a bill after its due date in the last 12 months. In 70 percent of those cases, respondents racked up a late fee, and 38 percent of the late bill payers said they simply forgot when the due date was, according to the Seventh Annual Billing Household Survey conducted by Fiserv, a financial services technology company.

That helps explain why automatic bill paying is wildly popular among some consumers. There's no shortage of ways to set up automatic bill paying. Your bank probably offers the service, and if it doesn't, you could use PayTrust, Quicken Bill Pay, MyCheckFree or MintBills, just to name a few of the big names out there (not all of these are free).

The appealing part of automating bills is, as the saying goes, you set it and forget it. If you have plenty of income rolling in, and your budgeting is down to a science, really, what's not to like? But while automating bills can be a useful way to manage money, it isn't foolproof. If your intent is to automate your bills so you never miss a payment again, here are a few considerations to mull over.

*Autopay Can Mask Behind-the-Scenes Mistakes*

Amy Baxter is a pediatrician and CEO of Buzzy4painrelief in Atlanta. Baxter's company develops reusable, inexpensive products for personal pain control, but now she's feeling financial pain, thanks to a snafu with her cable company. She had been automating payments for her fax line, and when she moved to a new office, her cable company said it could switch the line to the new place while keeping her data plan price the same as before. All seemed fine for about three months.

"Our statement had the same amount on it, just as promised," Baxter says, noting she'd been paying $89 a month, and she continued to pay $89 a month. "Except that last week, we get a call that they're going to shut down our service, and we owe $800. For three months' service."

It turned out the company had been charging Baxter $89 for the old phone line -- through autopay -- but hadn't been charging her for the new one, which, despite what she'd been told, was now $189 a month. She also learned that she was on the hook for installation fees. But because autopay was continuing as usual with the $89 charge, Baxter had no way of knowing or suspecting that the cable company had made a mistake that would ultimately cost her.

"We thought we were paying with autopay, and instead horrific bills were racking up," says Baxter, who spent eight hours over three days communicating with 14 people at her cable company, trying to sort everything out. She says she still hasn't had the charges waived.

*Autopay Works Better With Fixed Numbers*

Although inflation means some of your bills won't always remain the same, many bills don't change dramatically from month to month. Your mortgage and car payment will remain stable, for example, unless you refinance or pay one of them off. Your cable bill is generally static, unless you order movies. But your electric bill may fluctuate. Your water bill, too. If you have a bill that's erratic -- low one month but surprisingly high the next -- and your bank account suggests you're living paycheck to paycheck, you'd be better off nixing autopay for those bills unless you enjoy overdraft fees. Of course, you've probably already figured this out the hard way.

*Autopay Makes It Easier to Forget About Your Bills*

The point of autopay is that you can forget about your bills -- but you don't want to completely forget about your bills because at some point, you're likely going to run into the same trap Marilyn Paige stepped into.

Paige, who owns a marketing firm in Denver, pays her bills through her bank's automatic bill paying system. One of those bills is a store credit card she uses frequently and pays off in full every month. Then one day Paige's bank changed bill-paying providers, and while some of her bills rolled over seamlessly, she had to re-enter payment information for certain bills. Paige dutifully did so, but didn't realize that her store credit card had, without her permission, stopped sending her paper bills. She entered a stack of paper bills into the new bill-paying system, but in the absence of paper bills from the store credit card, she forgot to re-up the automation.

Imagine her surprise when she then received a notice with a $20 late-fee charge, which she later was able to get dropped. "So frustrating," Paige says. "And my bill was only for $18." This wasn't autopay's fault, of course, but it pays to remember that autopay doesn't come without hiccups.

*Credit cards** Can Be a Useful Way to Autopay*

If you have a healthy line of credit, you could autopay some or all of your bills with a credit card -- and then, every month, like clockwork, pay off the credit card. The pluses are that if a bill is higher than you expected, you needn't worry about cash disappearing from a bank account, another payment going through and then suddenly becoming awash in overdraft fees.

Another bonus is that if you're overcharged, you might have better luck getting the charges reversed than you would getting cash returned to your bank account; and as long as you're disciplined about paying off your credit card every month, you're helping your credit score, to boot. The only downside to this strategy -- and it's a big one -- is if you miss your credit card payment.

*Don't Autopay the Bills You Want to Remember*

Say you started the new year off right and joined a gym. Unless you have a particularly sharp memory, or are the type of person who checks your bank statements religiously, don't automate for at least a year. If you forget to go exercise, it stands to reason that you may also forget that you're paying for that gym membership.

You'll also want to be especially careful about automating bills that only charge you once or twice a year, especially if it's for a service you're not entirely sure you want to pay for indefinitely. In other words, even if you want to forget about your bills, it doesn't pay to have full-blown amnesia.

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments Reported by DailyFinance 5 hours ago.

Hackers Hit Health Insurer Anthem, Access Customer Details

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Hackers Hit Health Insurer Anthem, Access Customer Details Filed under: Identity Theft, Company News, Technology, Ripoffs & Scams, Internet Fraud

*Darron Cummings/AP*

By TOM MURPHY

INDIANAPOLIS -- Health insurer Anthem said hackers infiltrated its computer network and gained access to a host of personal information for customers and employees, including CEO Joseph Swedish.

The nation's second-largest health insurer said it was contacting customers affected by the "very sophisticated" cyberattack and was working to figure out how many people were affected.

The company said information the hackers gained access to included names, birth dates, email address, employment details, Social Security numbers, incomes and street addresses of people who are currently covered or have had coverage in the past.The Indianapolis-based insurer said credit card information wasn't compromised, and it has yet to find evidence that medical information such as insurance claims and test results was targeted or obtained.

Anthem (ANTM), which recently changed its name from WellPoint, runs Blue Cross Blue Shield plans in more than a dozen states, including California, New York and Ohio. It covers more than 37 million people.

The insurer said all of its product lines were affected. It sells mainly private individual and group health insurance, plans on the health care overhaul's public insurance exchanges and Medicare and Medicaid coverage. It also offers life insurance and dental and vision coverage.

Affected brands include Anthem Blue Cross, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Georgia, Empire Blue Cross and Blue Shield and Amerigroup.

Anthem said Wednesday evening that the FBI is investigating and the company has hired Internet security company Mandiant to improve its network defenses. The insurer will provide free credit monitoring and identity protection services.

The FBI urged Anthem customers contacted by the insurer to report suspected instances of identity theft.

In 2013, the insurer agreed to pay $1.7 million to resolve allegations it left the information of more than 612,000 members available online because of inadequate safeguards. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said that security weaknesses in an online application database left names, birthdates, addresses, telephone numbers, Social Security numbers, and health data accessible to unauthorized users.

The Health and Human Services Department said then that the insurer didn't have adequate policies for authorizing access to the database, didn't perform a needed technical evaluation after a software upgrade, and did not have technical safeguards to verify that the people or entities seeking access were authorized to view the information in the database.

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments Reported by DailyFinance 3 hours ago.

MNsure author calls for a reboot

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The author of the controversial MNsure health insurance program is ready for a redo. Reported by TwinCities.com 3 hours ago.

Massive data breach at Anthem could affect 80 million customers

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Anthem, Inc., the second-largest health insurance company in the U.S., says as many as 80 million customers have had their account information stolen. Anthem plans and brands affected include: Anthem Blue Cross, Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield, Empire Blue Cross and Blue Shield, Amerigroup, Caremore, Unicare, Healthlink and DeCare. Hackers gained access to Anthem's computer system and took information including names, birthdays, medical IDs/Social Security numbers, street addresses, e-mail addresses… Reported by bizjournals 1 hour ago.

Health insurance company Anthem hacked, customer details compromised

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Anthem Inc., which recently changed its name from WellPoint, runs Blue Cross Blue Shield plans in more than a dozen states. Reported by nola.com 1 hour ago.

Hack attack: 80 million at risk in Anthem breach

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Anthem, the nation's second-largest health insurance company, is the latest target of a security breach. Eighty million customers, including the company's own CEO, are at risk of having their personal information stolen.

 
 
 
 
 
 
  Reported by USATODAY.com 1 hour ago.

“Tens Of Millions” Of Personal Records Stolen In Hack On Health Insurance Company Anthem

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Any data breach is bad, but the more personal they are — and the more widespread — the worse. And by both metrics, the hack just announced by major health insurer Anthem is particularly terrible.

Anthem announced late last night that hackers had broken into their databases and stolen personal information for basically everyone the company has records for, the … [More] Reported by The Consumerist 57 minutes ago.

Health-insurance giant confirms huge hack on members’ records

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Health-insurance giant confirms huge hack on members’ records Hackers stole the personal records of as many as 80 million members of health insurance giant Anthem in a security breach that could rank among the largest eyer. The nation’s... Reported by NY Post 5 minutes ago.

Anthem Hack Renews Calls For Laws To Better Prevent Breaches

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Hackers gained access to records of 80 million Anthem customers and employees, the health insurance giant says. But how can the seemingly endless mega-hacks be prevented? Reported by NPR 19 hours ago.

U.S. approves Medicare coverage for lung cancer screening

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NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. health regulators on Thursday approved Medicare coverage for lung cancer screening by low-dose CT, the first time the government health insurance program for the elderly and disabled will pay for such a program of early detection in an effort to save lives. Reported by Reuters 19 hours ago.

Giant US health-data breach could lead to China

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Giant US health-data breach could lead to China New York (AFP) - Data on as many as 80 million customers at US health insurance giant Anthem was stolen by hackers, officials confirmed Thursday, in a cyberattack investigators have reportedly linked to China.

The Bloomberg News agency cited three people with knowledge of Anthem's investigation as saying that cybersleuths believed the breach bore the hallmarks of previous attacks blamed on Chinese hackers.  

The cyberattack is just the latest exposing personal information on millions of people in the United States, triggering calls for companies to beef up their data defenses.

"Cyberattackers executed a very sophisticated attack to gain unauthorized access to one of Anthem's IT systems and have obtained personal information relating to consumers and Anthem employees who are currently covered, or who have received coverage in the past," a statement from the second-largest US health insurer said.

"Once the attack was discovered, Anthem immediately made every effort to close the security vulnerability, contacted the FBI and began fully cooperating with their investigation," said chief executive Joseph Swedish.

"Anthem's own associates' personal information -- including my own -- was accessed during this security breach. We join you in your concern and frustration, and I assure you that we are working around the clock to do everything we can to further secure your data."

The information includes names, birth dates, social security numbers, street addresses, email addresses and employment information, the company said.

"The affected database has records for 80 million people and tens of millions" of them were stolen, spokeswoman Cindy Wakefield said.

- China link -

Bloomberg and The Wall Street Journal reported that while the investigation into the attack was nascent, there were indications it could be part of a broader spying campaign instead of profit-driven identity theft.

With details about a person's medical records, for example, cyber spies could craft emails that appear legitimate but are rigged with malicious software to gain access into networks of businesses or government agencies where they work. 

Last year, US retailer Home Depot said 53 million email addresses were stolen, months after fellow retailer Target said personal data on 70 million customers was accessed.

Some experts say medical data can be even more lucrative to hackers than credit cards because they can create fake identities for prescription drugs to be resold, or file false insurance claims.

Security experts welcomed Anthem's decision to make the issue public swiftly.

"I'm pleased to see Anthem publishing information about the security breach online, and I'm sure customers will be grateful that the company has not tried to hide away the news," independent security researcher Graham Cluley said in a blog post.

"But what's really necessary is for companies and organizations to do a better job at protecting our personal information. Too many firms who are entrusted with data from the general public are finding themselves in the uncomfortable position of admitting that they have been hacked."

The United States government has long accused China of mounting an aggressive cyberwar against American companies and interests, charges routinely denied by Beijing.

FBI director James Comey last October said China was at the "top of the list" of countries launching cyberattacks on US firms.

"There are two kinds of big companies in the United States," Comey said. "There are those who've been hacked by the Chinese and those who don't know they’ve been hacked by the Chinese." 

Join the conversation about this story » Reported by Business Insider 18 hours ago.

Lung cancer screenings will now be covered under Medicare

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U.S. health regulators on Thursday approved Medicare coverage for lung cancer screening by low-dose CT, the first time the government health insurance program for the elderly and disabled will pay for such a program of early detection in an effort to save lives. The decision applies to Medicare bene... Reported by Raw Story 19 hours ago.
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