�鶹Ů��

Iowa employers continue to face rising health-insurance premiums, but they’re not dropping coverage of their workers, a new survey shows. “We’re not seeing an exodus at all,” said David P. Lind, a Clive health care analyst who oversees the annual survey. In fact, he said, slightly more employers are offering coverage this year than last. An estimated 1.6 million Iowans, who make up more than half the state’s population, receive health insurance via an employer. Most of the rest buy their own policies or obtain coverage from a government program, such as Medicare or Medicaid. (Leys, 10/6)

It can be well worth the effort to go up against your health plan if it denies you treatment you think you need. That’s just one of the many lessons consumers can glean by using a new online tool unveiled today by the Department of Managed Health Care. It shows that last year, nearly two-thirds of Anthem Blue Cross enrollees who filed an appeal with the department to challenge a denial of-care ended up getting the medical services they requested. (Ibarra, 10/6)