Medicare Maneuvers, Part 1: The Problem
July 2, 2008
Payment cuts for doctors who treat Medicare patients - which have been looming for about a year - finally went into effect yesterday. The payment cuts of 10.6% will affect the 600,000 doctors who treat Medicare patients, and thus millions of elderly and disabled Medicare enrollees who rely on them.
Maybe if you’re under 65 and/or not relying on government health care benefits you think this isn’t your problem. You’re wrong.
A little history (based on the writings of Jonathan Cohn):
DNA, Disease, and Discrimination
June 10, 2008
Can you imagine being faced with the difficult decision of having your breasts removed - not because you have breast cancer, but because you’ve determined that you carry the genes for it? Women at risk for the disease can now find out whether they have the same DNA that killed their mothers and grandmothers.
In recent years, advances in genetic research have helped push medicine into realms once reserved for science fiction.
In the 1850s there were only 140 categories of disease, differentiated by their symptoms. By 1993, genetic mapping had allowed scientists to distinguish 12,000 categories of disease, to determine that some diseases were linked genetically despite having widely different symptoms, and to find better drugs and measures to treat or prevent these diseases.
Can You Profit from Health Care? Part 2
May 21, 2008
A couple weeks ago WhatIf explored whether the U.S.’ largest industry – health care – is recession-proof. It seems health insurance companies’ profits are starting to slip. Rising health care costs means that insurers must pay out more to cover health services, which means they raise the price of their policies to recoup these costs. As a result, the number of employers purchasing insurance is decreasing.
Even so, the nation’s largest publicly-traded health plans say they will continue to raise premium prices and reduce provider payments in order to please Wall Street. “We will not sacrifice profitability for membership,” WellPoint President and CEO Angela Braly said recently.
Costs of Cancer Care?
March 31, 2008
Part of the heartache of cancer is that surviving it is ultimately a game of statistics. There are no assurances - except in the worst case scenarios where they are grim.
Even determining the best treatment is a matter of weighing likelihoods rather than having clear-cut solutions. On top of all that, patients must deal with the cost of various treatments.
Fortunately, cancer death rates have been falling in recent years - for several reasons:
- There is more and more information available on how to prevent cancer.
- Regular screening can catch the disease in early stages when it’s more treatable.
The Benefits of Telehealth
March 11, 2008
If necessity is the mother of invention, then it should be no surprise the innovative world of computer science and technology is being harnessed to help bring down health care costs.
Telehealth - or remote patient monitoring - refers to when medical experts use a digital network (like the internet or telephone lines) to provide automated monitoring and treatment delivery to a patient who is in a different physical location. This can range from email messages of basic care instructions to remote robotic surgery.
Health Care: The Joke Is On You
March 7, 2008
It seemed to be health care night over at Comedy Central’s nighttime “news” shows last night. First, John Stewart interviewed former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle about his new book Critical: What We Can Do About the Health-Care Crisis.
According to the Publishers Weekly summary of the book:
Congress Ready to Promote Mental Health
March 5, 2008
Originally posted November 17, 2007: Metal Health Discrimination? The AP reports that the Senate has passed a bill that would require group health insurance to cover mental health services and substance abuse treatment at the same levels as typical medical coverage. From this little article one gets a glimpse at the way the US has treated mental health. There is a more expansive House version of the mental health parity bill that would also require insurance changes to begin in January 2008 - almost a year earlier than the Senate bill, which has the support of insurance companies. The House bill has made it through three committees.
Finish that Report and Lose 20 LBs
January 25, 2008
Employers, frustrated with how growing health care costs for their employees are eating into their bottom line, are experimenting with incentives for workers to get healthier so as to minimize long-term company spending on health care. Smoking-cessation and weight loss programs are now a growing part of employee health plans, with employees rewarded for “good behavior” with lower monthly premiums, or penalized for “bad behavior” with fines - or in one lawsuit-inducing case, firing. IBM, which sponsors a smoking-cessation program for its employees, is about to expand these financial incentives to employees who enroll their children in obesity education.
Wal-Mart Health Plan: Always Low Prices?
November 21, 2007
Wal-Mart is the latest to join the ranks of the increasing number of employers who are switching to high-deductible health plans. The main benefit of these plans is the cost savings to the employer who can still attract talent with the promise of health coverage. Wal-Mart employees enjoy the elimination of expensive hospital deductibles and reduced monthly premiums - some as low as $5 a month - and $4 for generic prescriptions. But if a Wal-Mart worker finds herself with serious chronic health problems, she’s still looking at a deductible that may be as much as 10% of her annual income - before taxes. That’s assuming she’s not a new employee on the year-long waiting list for coverage.
My Doctor, the Boss
October 22, 2007
As employer health costs rise, large employers (as many as 30% of them by next year) are building on-site health clinics for their employees - and saving millions. Companies like Perdue, Toyota, Pepsi and Sprint Nextel are returning to the days, not so long ago, when workers’ health care was a company affair. These employees now get access to cheaper doctor visits while on the clock. But current loopholes in HIPAA (the health care privacy law) beg the question: will an employee with a drug problem feel safe getting treatment at work?
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