Patients could face big bills with plans
WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama’s health-care law appears to mirror a trend in job-based insurance, where employees are being nudged into cost-saving plans that require them to pay a bigger share of their medical expenses.
Two independent studies out this week highlighted attractive prices for less-generous “bronze” plans that will offer low monthly premiums but require patients to pick up more of the cost if they get sick.
Consumers might avoid “rate shock” over premiums, but some could end up struggling with bigger bills for the care they receive.
The Obama plans will be available starting Oct. 1 for people who don’t have access to coverage on the job.
Zimmerman’s wife files for divorce, lawyer says
ORLANDO, Fla. – George Zimmerman’s wife filed for divorce Thursday, less than two months after her husband was acquitted of murdering Trayvon Martin and a week after she pleaded guilty to perjury in his case.
Shellie Zimmerman made the decision because of “disappointment,” her attorney, Kelly Sims, wrote Thursday in a short email to The Associated Press.
The 26-year-old Zimmerman told ABC’s “Good Morning America” last week that she was having serious doubts about remaining married.
Hospital contacts patients about disease
MANCHESTER, N.H. – Eight patients who may have been exposed to a fatal brain disease at a New Hampshire hospital have been contacted by the hospital’s president, who said Thursday the patients aren’t panicking.
Dr. Joseph Pepe called the Catholic Medical Center patients a day after health officials announced that they may have been exposed to Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease – a brain disease characterized by rapidly progressive dementia that can cause death within months after symptoms first appearing.
It has no treatment or cure.
Associated Press
