Category: Health Insurance (Page 6 of 12)

Insurers Don’t Like the Big Business of Sleep Apnea

January 22, 2012 / Staff

Sleep apnea is proving to be a drain on insurance companies.

Snoring was once considered an annoyance, however, research has shown that complications can increase the risk of several serious illnesses, including heart disease, stroke and dementia.

Testing can be a lucrative business, and labs have popped up in free-standing clinics and hospitals across the country. Over the past decade, the number of accredited sleep labs that test for the disorder has quadrupled, according to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine.
At the same time, insurer spending on the procedure has skyrocketed. Medicare payments for sleep testing increased from $62 million in 2001 to $235 million in 2009, according to the Office of the Inspector General.

Although the initial cost may be a burden on insurers the hope lies in the prevention of more serious and costly ailments in the future.

Health Insurance, Medicare, Research, Resources, Wellness

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Very Few Are Spending the Most Health Care Dollars

January 20, 2012 / Staff

White, elderly, women with private health insurance are spending the most health care dollars, the federal government reported.

$2.6 trillion the nation spent on health care in 2010 translated into just over $8,400 per person.

But that is not the whole story.

A different study just released by a separate federal agency shows that second number doesn’t actually mean very much.

Specifically, in 2009, just 1 percent of the non-institutionalized population accounted for 21.8 percent of all U.S. health spending. And just 5 percent accounted for half the total spending.
Meanwhile, the bottom half of the population accounted for a mere 2.9 percent of total health spending in 2009.

Health Care Policy, Health Insurance, Medicare, Research, Resources

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Should Physicians Consider Cost When Treating Patients?

January 6, 2012 / Staff

Where does cost fit into health care decisions?

This subject is being discussed by a major medical group which recently proposed the position to doctors that they should consider cost-effectiveness when treating patients.

“The cost of health care in the United States is twice that of any other industrialized countries and we are not providing care to as many people as they do in other places, and we don’t even have as good outcomes,” said Dr. Virginia Hood, president of the group. “So given that, we really have to look at ways of doing things better.”

Doctors, Health Care Policy, Health Insurance, Quality Control, Resources

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Health Care Reform Battle Begins

January 5, 2012 / Staff

Health Care reform has been sparking rather heated debates from both sides of the aisle and from every other possible direction, it seems.

There has been no consensus on a number of key topics; cancer screening and cell phone dangers and mandatory compliance is set to be enforced by 2014.

There is a lot of work to be done and special interests will have their hands full lobbying for their stake in the game.

Supporters of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which President Obama signed into law in 2010, claim the legislation will extend coverage to 30 million Americans. But opponents labeled it an unconstitutional intrusion of government upon personal rights, especially the “individual mandate” clause that requires Americans to purchase health insurance or face fines.

Health Care Policy, Health Insurance, Medicaid, Medicare

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Uninsured Getting Creative to Pay for Healthcare

January 3, 2012 / Staff

Some uninsured clients are turning to coupons to pay for healthcare.

Physicians are getting creative to lure in patients and the uninsured are looking for deals to pay for costly care.

It looks like a trend that might catch on for a win-win in a tough economy.

The deals are popping up across the nation. In New York, a full medical checkup with blood, stool and urinalysis testing sold for $69 in December on Groupon — below the regular price of $200. In Seattle, a flu shot was offered on AmazonLocal for $17, down from $35. In Chicago, LivingSocial sold a dental exam, cleaning, X-rays and teeth whitening trays for $99, a savings of $142.

Doctors, Health Insurance, Wellness

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