Election Will Decide Health Law’s Future
The highest court in the country upheld most of the Affordable Care Act in June. But everybody knew it was only an overture to today’s contest between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney.
Industry Likes Medicare Home Care Expansion, But Cost Is Unknown
Patient advocacy and industry groups are cheering Medicare’s move to start paying聽nursing home, home care and physical therapy bills for some patients who were previously denied聽coverage. But how much extra it will cost the government聽is far from clear. The change “is expected to聽affect the lives of tens of thousands of Americans, perhaps hundreds of thousands” […]
Insurers Get Ready For Exchanges, But Exchanges May Not Be Ready For Them
Insurers are spending big dollars on marketing, technology and risk analysis of the new health care landscape. But with exchanges supposed to go live in late 2013, where and how companies will plunge – and how deep – is far from clear.
Md. Blues Chief Blasts Plan To Shift Hospital Costs To Insurers
Negotiations聽to avert a breakdown in Maryland’s聽unique system of regulating hospital聽prices have聽deteriorated聽into a stalemate between the state鈥檚 largest insurer and the Maryland Hospital Association.聽CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield CEO Chet Burrell, speaking out for the first time about the talks,聽blames聽hospitals for their proposal to shift聽hundreds of millions in costs to CareFirst and other private insurers in an attempt […]
Recessions Harm Older Workers’ Long-Term Health, Data Show
There are聽20 million Americans between聽55 and 60.聽Nearly 1 million聽are unemployed, according to the Labor Department.聽Many more聽lack health coverage,聽suggests the Census Bureau’s new report on income, poverty and health insurance. Thanks to the lousy economy, the聽whole group is at higher聽risk for聽long-term health problems and earlier death,聽suggests聽new research聽from聽Wellesley College. Wellesley economist Phillip B.聽Levine and colleagues mashed mortality聽and […]
How Is Your Medicare Drug Plan Like Your Cable Company?
Economists have long chronicled the聽“lock in” effect — the聽ability to attract shoppers with聽low prices and then sock them with聽increases once they’ve stopped聽paying attention. Think car insurance or bank fees. Consumers often聽stay put even when they聽notice the higher bills, deciding that the hassles of switching represent an even greater cost. Boston University economist聽Keith M. Marzilli Ericson […]
Pressure From Insurers, Government Cuts Radiology Use And Spending
Here’s another reason health care聽inflation is down: The slowing growth in MRI scans, CT sessions and other diagnostic聽imaging聽that began聽in the mid-2000s聽has continued,聽paired with sharply lower聽Medicare reimbursements. The end of the聽MRI boom聽may not rank with the poor聽economy, high-deductible health plans聽and expiring blockbuster drug patents as a factor in slowing聽cost trends — scans make up about 5 […]
UnitedHealth Cases Show Big Cost Differences For Same Illness
We’ve seen this before: a study showing large聽spending disparities to treat similar ailments and little if any link between expenditure and effectiveness.聽What’s different about this analysis is the patients.聽Many聽reports聽on cost and quality disparity (the best known is the Dartmouth Atlas of Health Care) are based on data from the government’s Medicare program for seniors. This […]
Feds Push Maryland To Think Big On Health Cost Control
Federal officials are urging Maryland and its powerful health industry to build on the state’s unique hospital rate-setting system to develop sweeping cost controls that could be used as a model for other states.
Survey: Hospitals Name Their Least Favorite Insurers
Updated at 11 a.m. with comments from Cigna. It is a truth universally acknowledged聽that health insurance companies can be a pain for patients.聽What may be a surprise聽is that hospitals often complain,聽too. For the same reasons:聽Denied claims. Low reimbursement. Late reimbursement. Thickets of red tape. Each year ReviveHealth, a hospital public relations firm in Santa Barbara, […]
Maryland Seeks A New Balance In Its Unique Hospital Payment System
Maryland hospitals want insurers to pay more as the state considers cuts in Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement rates.
Don’t Change Medicare, Most Republicans Say In Poll
As聽Rep. Paul Ryan’s plan to overhaul Medicare makes聽campaign headlines, a聽majority of聽Republicans oppose changing the government聽program for seniors, according to a new poll by the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Washington Post. (KHN is an editorially independent program of the foundation.)聽That could spell trouble for聽presumptive presidential nominee Mitt Romney and his designated 聽running mate Ryan as […]
Businesses Will Push Perry to Rethink Medicaid Expansion
Though Texas Gov. Rick Perry likens the Medicaid expansion to adding people “to the Titanic,” insurer WellPoint is grabbing for a piece of the business it thinks will grow in that state by buying Medicaid managed care provider Amerigroup. The move could mean an extra $1 billion in annual revenue for the insurer.
Study: High CEO Pay Doesn’t Boost Hospital Quality
Everybody agrees the health system needs to聽improve patient results even as it becomes more efficient. So shouldn’t we reward聽hospital managers who make progress in聽both areas? That聽doesn’t seem to be the case in New Hampshire, according to a new study from the New Hampshire Center for Public Policy Studies. At a time when聽many聽contend that聽hospitals should focus […]
Doc Payments Show Underbelly Of Pill Marketing
How do pharmaceutical companies boost sales and drive up health costs? Pay celebrity doctors to talk about their pills. Take doctors on lavish junkets. Misrepresent research. Push pills for unapproved uses. None of which comes as news, given previous revelations. Documents unsealed as part of GlaxoSmithKline’s settlement with federal prosecutors, however, offer a rare look […]
Hospitals Celebrate Decision, But Threats Remain
The decision to let states opt out of the Medicaid expansion means hospitals serving the poor could still be stuck with unpaid care.
Hospital Stocks Soar As Court Upholds Health Act
Updated at 2:40 p.m. on June 28. Hospitals were聽the businesses with the most to lose from a negative Supreme Court opinion聽on the 2010 health law. Sure, insurers聽would have lost millions of potential聽customers. But聽if the act聽were struck down, they would have also been freed from restrictions on their profits, leading Wall Street analysts to predict mixed […]
Some Health System Changes Will Stay, No Matter How SCOTUS Rules
Soaring costs, tight budgets, better technology and industry consolidation ensure health care won’t go back to 2009, no matter what the Supreme Court or Congress do.
Rewarding Docs For Efficiency Reaps Savings For Insurer
Can聽bonuses of $10,000聽or more聽spur聽primary care doctors to cut聽expensive hospital admissions and emergency room visits without harming care? CareFirst聽BlueCross BlueShield says the answer is yes. The insurer, which covers people聽in Maryland, Washington and Virginia, says its “patient-centered medical program” shaved聽$40 million — or 1.5 percent — off expected costs last year, its first in operation. Much […]
The New Normal In Health Insurance: High Deductibles
Supporters say high-deductible insurance can contain health costs by giving patients an incentive to take better care of themselves and to shop more carefully. Critics say the plans are just a way for corporations to shift costs onto workers, especially those dealing with chronic illness.
