Pennsylvania Auditor General Jack Wagner has issued a report, based on comments at five public hearings held across the state, that suggests that state residents want tobacco settlement money to be used for health-related programs.

The 44,000 people covered by eight plans of Blue Cross of Northeastern Pennsylvania could see premium increases of between 15% and 27%.

Nearly 46,000 Pennsylvanians enrolled in adultBasic may lose health insurance next year if the state’s four Blue Cross/Blue Shield insurers do not renew a state agreement, according to two nonprofit organization’s analysis.

The Pennsylvania Insurance Department’s plans to release the first of four reports on competition among the state’s Blue Cross and Blue Shield insurers has hit a legal roadblock.

On the heels of releasing the first of four reports on Pennsylvania’s four Blue Cross Blue Shield plans and possible anti-competitive practices, state regulators face a suit by Highmark for what it calls an “unlawful and unauthorized” examination.

A Wilkes-Barre, Pa., woman faces two counts each of insurance fraud and obtaining a controlled substance by misrepresentation after claiming to be her sister-in-law and billing the woman’s health carrier for more than $3,700.

As Washington, D.C., considers its next legislative move regarding health care reform amid a myriad of choices, Pennsylvania’s top insurance regulator says his state has a clear focus for change: the small-group health market.

A Moosic, Pa., chiropractor pleaded guilty in federal court to a felony charge of making false statements involving a health care benefit program.

Several representatives of the health care industry told a Pennsylvania Senate committee that its bill to create a single-payer system in the state does not control costs or guarantee more people get health care.

A letter was recently sent to nearly 55,000 members of Blue Cross of Northeastern Pennsylvania’s non-group plans, indicating that the insurer would raise its rates by 9.9% Jan. 1, 2010.