Insurance Space

Adult patients without health insurance admitted to intensive care units in Pennsylvania hospitals had a 21% higher risk of death compared to other patients with private insurance, according to University of Pennsylvania researchers.

The differences in mortality risk were not explained by patient characteristics or differences in the hospitals they were admitted to, suggesting that uninsured patients might be receiving poorer quality care—for a variety of reasons. The findings are being presented this week at the American Thoracic Society 2010 International Conference in New Orleans.

Pitching President Barack Obama’s health care law to skeptical business owners, the IRS on Monday will announce ground rules for small firms wishing to claim a new federal tax credit for health insurance.

Created under the health overhaul law, the tax credit covers up to 35 percent of the premiums that certain small businesses pay on behalf of their workers. The IRS notice addresses unanswered questions about the benefit, which is available starting this year.

One of the oddities of California politics is the way different factions use the initiative process to try to sneak into law programs and policies that, given full attention and airing, would die an inglorious death. Add Proposition 17, the bizarrely named “Allows Auto Insurance Companies to Base Their Prices in Part on a Driver’s History of Insurance Coverage,” to the list of propositions-as-shell games.