Category: Health Insurance (Page 2 of 12)

Pleasant surprises in store for Obamacare?

May 28, 2013 / Staff

Here’s some welcomed good news from of all places California:

Predictions of an Obamacare apocalypse seem a little less credible today, thanks to California.
On Thursday, officials in that state offered the first detailed glimpse of what consumers buying health benefits on their own can expect to pay next year. And from the looks of things, these consumers will be getting a pretty good deal.
Based on the premiums that insurers have submitted for final regulatory approval, the majority of Californians buying coverage on the state’s new insurance exchange will be paying less—in many cases, far less—than they would pay for equivalent coverage today. And while a minority will still end up writing bigger premium checks than they do now, even they won’t be paying outrageous amounts. Meanwhile, all of these consumers will have access to the kind of comprehensive benefits that are frequently unavaiable today, at any price, because of the way insurers try to avoid the old and the sick.

Guys like Paul Krugman are heralding these new numbers.

If these numbers play out in other states as well, we could see a surge of people getting more affordable health insurance coverage.

General Health, Health Care Policy, Health Insurance

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Are health care costs starting to stabilize?

May 7, 2013 / Staff

Health care costs are the biggest contributor to our long term deficits, and so this issue gets a ton of attention in Washington. President Obama has argued for years that simply bending the long term cost curve on health care will result in huge savings regarding government spending helping to reduce deficits. The trend may have already started.

Health care spending growth has famously slowed over the past five years, significantly enough that the Congressional Budget Office recently revised its projections of Medicare and Medicaid spending over the coming decade downward by hundreds of billions of dollars.
Now, research papers suggests the recent slowdown doesn’t just reflect temporary economic weakness, but also structural shifts in how health care is delivered and financed — possibly attributable to the Affordable Care Act — and thus might be a harbinger of a longer-term trend.
If they’re right, and the trend continues, it means workers can expect higher wages and the country’s projected medium term deficits are significantly overstated, which in turn suggests lawmakers’ continuing obsession with the current budget deficit, and deficits over the coming decade, are misguided.

One of the keys to Obamacare is to move our health care system away from fee for service care to health care delivery that takes a holistic approach where doctors and hospitals are paid for overall care and outcomes as opposed to more tests and procedures. It makes sense that this shift has started to decrease overall costs.

General Health, Health Care Policy, Health Insurance

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Perverse incentives for hospital profits

April 17, 2013 / Staff

If you want to know one reason why our health care system is so screwed up, please read this article. It explains how hospitals often make more money when complications arise during surgery.

Patients who suffer complications after surgery are lucrative for hospitals, which get paid more when they treat infections and other problems, according to a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association today.
In 2010, an unnamed, nonprofit 12-hospital chain in the southern U.S. was paid an average of $49,400 per person for treating surgery patients who have complications — more than double the $18,900 paid for patients who underwent only the initial surgery, according to an analysis by researchers from Harvard Medical School and elsewhere.

Read the entire article for details on this problem. We need to alter these incentives and pay for health care that actually works. Incompetence and mistakes should not be rewarded.

General Health, Health Care Policy, Health Insurance, Hospitals, Quality Control

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Millions Of American Women Lack Sufficient Health Care Coverage

July 14, 2012 / Staff

Insured American women are more likely to go without needed healthcare because of the cost and difficulty paying medical bills.

“We are on the cusp of a remarkable feat: providing comprehensive, affordable health insurance to almost all American women,” Karen Davis, president of the Commonwealth Fund, explained. “It is crucial that state and federal policy makers and other key stakeholders actively work together to implement the reform law and take full advantage of all the benefits the Affordable Care Act offers so that all American families are able to benefit from the law’s potential.”

Women of childbearing age are at particular risk and often cannot afford the high out of pocket cost of health care even when they are insured.

Lower wages, higher premiums and time away from work to raise families puts women at unique risk in comparison to men.

Health Care Policy, Health Insurance, Wellness

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Supreme Court Rules In Favor Of Affordable Care Act

June 28, 2012 / Staff

A victory today for President Obama as the supreme court rules in favor of health care for everyone.

The mandate would require all Americans to purchase health insurance and those who don’t will be penalized with a tax, which in effect, would be the cost of a years worth of coverage.

The court ruled that congress has the right to levy a tax on the citizens of the United States.

The dissenters including Anthony M. Kennedy, contend that the law is overreaching.

The majority, lead Chief Justice Roberts, agree that the Affordable Care Act is Constitutional but did substantially limit the law requiring the expansion of Medicaid by the states.

The court’s ruling, seen as one of the most significant in decades, is a crucial milestone for the law, allowing almost all of its far-reaching changes to roll forward. Several of its notable provisions have already been put in place in the past two years, and more are imminent. Ultimately, it is intended to end the United States’ status as the only rich country with large numbers of uninsured people, by expanding both the private market and Medicaid.
President Obama spoke from the White House shortly after the decision was handed down. “Whatever the politics, today’s decision was a victory for people all over this country whose lives are more secure because of this law,” he said.

Health Care Policy, Health Insurance, Medicaid, Privacy, Resources, Wellness

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