Humana

After a turbulent and high profile negotiation process,Ephraim McDowell Health and Humana reached an agreement days before thousands of area residents would have had to look elsewhere for medical care. McDowell's chief financial officer Bill Snapp said the two sides signed an agreement Thursday that will keep the hospital in Humana's network of providers and avoid an Aug. 1 deadline. If an agreement had not been reached, it could have had large ramifications for the many area residents insured through Humana, which includes all state employees and retired teachers under the age of 65.  “There won't be any discontinuation of service for our patients, which ultimately is the most important thing,” Snapp said.

How much longer is Ephraim McDowell Regional Medical Center going to pretend like it is the victim in this situation with Humana? Humana is asking them to reduce their costs because they are clearly overcharging their patients and medical insurers. If McDowell does not cut its costs, then the alternative is for our insurance premiums to increase. Why would anybody want their premiums to increase? McDowell's administrators are spinning their lucrative “non-profit” status, but their amount of uncompensated care is not Humana's responsibility, nor mine or yours, at least it shouldn't be.  What is uncompensated care anyway?

Jessamine County employees will notice a decrease in health-insurance cost beginning July 1, 2011, said Evelyn Smith, personnel/bookkeeper for the Jessamine County Fiscal Court. Currently, the county’s health insurance plan is with United Healthcare. According to Sherill-Morgan Agency’s Mike Williams, whom the county hired to conduct negotiations on its behalf, the cost to renew the plan with United would involve an 11-percent rate increase. Enter Humana. “We negotiated a little bit with (Humana)

The beginning of the end of our health care freedom is under way in Washington. Powerful left-winger, Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., accused Louisville-based Humana Inc. of using scare tactics in a letter the company mailed to seniors warning them they might lose popular Medicare benefits if the senator's health care plan passes. The letter urged the elderly to contact their legislators. What's wrong with that? Contacting legislators ? especially when major policy changes are planned ?

Medicare seminar mix-up disappoints At least a half dozen seniors were stood up at Western Sizzlin Friday when a Humana seminar on the Medicare prescription drug plan that was advertised did not go off. No representatives of Humana were at the restaurant and there was no sign on the door. The seminar was rescheduled for 2 p.m. at Applebees, but few of those who showed up at Western Sizzlin knew about the change of time or place. Douglas Hays and his wife had traveled from Springfield for the seminar.

Now that the Kentucky Retirement Systems Board of Trustees has decided to shift Medicare-covered public retirees from the state's self-funded supplemental insurance into a Medicare Advantage plan run by Humana, pensioners will have to watch to see whether the putative savings last - and wonder whether more ominous changes to benefits might be in the works. The trustees voted 5-3 to accept the idea supported earlier on a 3-2 vote of the KRS Retiree Health Plan Committee. Its biggest selling point is that Medicare Advantage will save both retirees and the state some cash.  That's critical to KRS, which faces a $19 billion unfunded liability in its combined pension systems.

Dear Editor: I hope that many people in our community will come to Centre College Tuesday to hear a lecture by visiting Humana professor, Diane McWhorter. Ms. McWhorter won the Pulitzer prize for general nonfiction in 2002 for "Carry Me Home," her electrifying account of the Birmingham civil rights movement, and she has just published "A Dream of Freedom," the first substantial history of the civil rights movement written specifically for younger readers. Her lecture will be at 7 p.m. in Young 101, and its title is "The Last White Witness to Segregation: Dealing with the Collective Amnesia about the Civil Rights Era. " Admission is free.

After a polarizing voting session, the Jessamine County Fiscal Court decided on several key factors that would save money for more than 100 of the 200-plus county employees on their health insurance premiums at the county's expense. The major decision was made by a unanimous vote last Wednesday in a special- called meeting when magistrates voted not to renew the county's insurance contract with Humana but accept a new plan with Bluegrass Family Heath. Humana quoted Jessamine County with an 18-percent increase to its 2011-'12 contract at nearly $1.7 million.

Delcie Biddle McCann, 70, of Lynnwood Drive, Paris, Ky. wife of Charles F. McCann Jr., died Sunday, May 4 at her residence. A native of Bourbon County, she was a member of the Bedford Acres Christian Church. She was a former interior designer at Heilringer's and a former insurance representative for Humana in Louisville. Survivors include her husband, two daughters, Debbie and husband Mike Foster of Oneida, Tenn. and Mindy and husband Allin Harris of Nicholasville, two sons, Charles K. McCann of Paris, Ky., and Steve McCann of Austin, Texas, five grandchildren, Dr. Ashley Robinson, Erin Robinson, Megan Harris, Brittany Harris and Madison Harris, two sisters, Julia and husband Reynolds Jenkins of Scott County and Pat and husband Bill Fryer of Paris, two nephews, Hart and husband Patty Sledd and Kenney Clay Sledd, a niece, Emily Sledd, two aunts, Happy and husband Donald Lowe and Mary Lee and husband John Johnson.

Now that the Kentucky Retirement Systems Board of Trustees has decided to shift Medicare-covered public retirees from the state's self-funded supplemental insurance into a Medicare Advantage plan run by Humana, pensioners will have to watch to see whether the putative savings last - and wonder whether more ominous changes to benefits might be in the works. The trustees voted 5-3 to accept the idea supported earlier on a 3-2 vote of the KRS Retiree Health Plan Committee. Its biggest selling point is that Medicare Advantage will save both retirees and the state some cash.  That's critical to KRS, which faces a $19 billion unfunded liability in its combined pension systems.

After a turbulent and high profile negotiation process,Ephraim McDowell Health and Humana reached an agreement days before thousands of area residents would have had to look elsewhere for medical care. McDowell's chief financial officer Bill Snapp said the two sides signed an agreement Thursday that will keep the hospital in Humana's network of providers and avoid an Aug. 1 deadline. If an agreement had not been reached, it could have had large ramifications for the many area residents insured through Humana, which includes all state employees and retired teachers under the age of 65.  “There won't be any discontinuation of service for our patients, which ultimately is the most important thing,” Snapp said.

How much longer is Ephraim McDowell Regional Medical Center going to pretend like it is the victim in this situation with Humana? Humana is asking them to reduce their costs because they are clearly overcharging their patients and medical insurers. If McDowell does not cut its costs, then the alternative is for our insurance premiums to increase. Why would anybody want their premiums to increase? McDowell's administrators are spinning their lucrative “non-profit” status, but their amount of uncompensated care is not Humana's responsibility, nor mine or yours, at least it shouldn't be.  What is uncompensated care anyway?

One of the state's largest health insurers has told customers it will no longer pay for health care at Ephraim McDowell Regional Medical Center beginning next month, pending negotiations that now stand at an impasse. Humana started sending out letters last week informing customers that McDowell will be cut from its network of providers Aug. 1. Humana insures state employees, which includes both working and many retired teachers.  In one of the letters from Humana obtained by The Advocate-Messenger, customers are told benefits will not change.

After a polarizing voting session, the Jessamine County Fiscal Court decided on several key factors that would save money for more than 100 of the 200-plus county employees on their health insurance premiums at the county's expense. The major decision was made by a unanimous vote last Wednesday in a special- called meeting when magistrates voted not to renew the county's insurance contract with Humana but accept a new plan with Bluegrass Family Heath. Humana quoted Jessamine County with an 18-percent increase to its 2011-'12 contract at nearly $1.7 million.

McDowell unit gets recognition The skilled nursing facility/transitional care unit at Ephraim McDowell Regional Medical Center has been identified by Humana as one of the Top 20 skilled nursing facilities in the state due to the quality of care it provides while also keeping patients' average lengths of stay short. A Humana surveyor conducted a site visit of the unit Jan. 20 to determine its appropriateness of clinical care. Annual evaluations by Humana will be completed in the future.

Jessamine County employees will notice a decrease in health-insurance cost beginning July 1, 2011, said Evelyn Smith, personnel/bookkeeper for the Jessamine County Fiscal Court. Currently, the county’s health insurance plan is with United Healthcare. According to Sherill-Morgan Agency’s Mike Williams, whom the county hired to conduct negotiations on its behalf, the cost to renew the plan with United would involve an 11-percent rate increase. Enter Humana. “We negotiated a little bit with (Humana)

If, as the variation on the British adage states, "There's more than one way to skin a cat," there's also more than one way to lose our liberty. The nation's leaders correctly have focused on external threats posed by Iran's nuclear aspirations and cowardly terrorist plots. But terrorist bombs aren't the only weapons that can bring a nation to its knees. The fine print of a health care bill can destroy our economic freedom just as a bomb can disintegrate a building. There are those who unknowingly lend support to policies that would cause our freedoms to degenerate.

The beginning of the end of our health care freedom is under way in Washington. Powerful left-winger, Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., accused Louisville-based Humana Inc. of using scare tactics in a letter the company mailed to seniors warning them they might lose popular Medicare benefits if the senator's health care plan passes. The letter urged the elderly to contact their legislators. What's wrong with that? Contacting legislators ? especially when major policy changes are planned ?

Delcie Biddle McCann, 70, of Lynnwood Drive, Paris, Ky. wife of Charles F. McCann Jr., died Sunday, May 4 at her residence. A native of Bourbon County, she was a member of the Bedford Acres Christian Church. She was a former interior designer at Heilringer's and a former insurance representative for Humana in Louisville. Survivors include her husband, two daughters, Debbie and husband Mike Foster of Oneida, Tenn. and Mindy and husband Allin Harris of Nicholasville, two sons, Charles K. McCann of Paris, Ky., and Steve McCann of Austin, Texas, five grandchildren, Dr. Ashley Robinson, Erin Robinson, Megan Harris, Brittany Harris and Madison Harris, two sisters, Julia and husband Reynolds Jenkins of Scott County and Pat and husband Bill Fryer of Paris, two nephews, Hart and husband Patty Sledd and Kenney Clay Sledd, a niece, Emily Sledd, two aunts, Happy and husband Donald Lowe and Mary Lee and husband John Johnson.