Inflation, generally higher health costs, the pandemic’s impact, rising interest rates and the threat of recession suggest that employers — and, consequently, their employees — will have an even harder time in 2023 managing their health costs. What does that mean for employers? Most likely it makes for harder decisions in what they do to […]
Posted inCosts
States are pushing the U.S. to let them import medications
Dody Tsiantar was on a visit to Greece when she ran out of her prescription diabetes medication. Fortunately, the local pharmacy had the same medication in stock and she bought a one-month supply for about 30 Euros (about $33) – a price that for her was “no big deal.” But after returning home to Florida, […]
Posted inProviders
Private equity buying up orthopedic practices
“Dr. Paul Jeffords and his colleagues at Atlanta-based Resurgens Orthopaedics were worried about their ability to survive financially, even though their independent orthopedic practice was the largest in Georgia, with nearly 100 physicians,” Harris Meyer writes over at Kaiser Health News. “They nervously watched other physician practices sell out entirely to large hospital systems and […]
Posted inCosts
New rule mandates health cost estimators
Health insurance companies and employers with healthcare insurance plans are required to give reliable estimates of people’s costs for healthcare, starting Jan. 1, 2023. This requirement, described in this Federal Register entry from 2020, is not a departure for many insurance companies, who have been doing this for some time. But for employers it’s a […]
Posted inBriefs
Drop in Covid vaccine production predicted
“For much of the pandemic, the main obstacle to vaccinating the world against the coronavirus was a lack of supply, as wealthy nations bought up vaccine doses and logistical bottlenecks hampered access for the poorest countries,” Adam Taylor writes in The Washington Post. “But increasingly, global vaccination efforts — spearheaded by Covax, a vaccine-sharing initiative backed in […]
Posted inCosts
Pain and fever reliever shortages bedevil parents and kids
Pain and fever relievers for infants and children continue to see shortages nationwide, as the “tripledemic” of Covid, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and flu has driven demand for such medications sky-high. “In case you’re keeping track at home, the latest basic necessity that you can’t find in any store anywhere is children’s tylenol or motrin,” […]
Posted inCosts
The Long Covid Survival Guide: A review
Nearly three years into the Covid pandemic, people who have long Covid are still looking for answers. Now, finally, they have some. With the publication of “The Long Covid Survival Guide: How to Take Care of Yourself and What Comes Next,” a group of patients have supplied what science and the medical profession could not […]
Posted inCosts
How much does IVIG (IV immunoglobulin) cost? $13,000 or $1,500?
How much does IVIG (IV immunoglobulin) cost? A friend got a stern $6,500 lesson recently, that included a lesson on home infusion, or getting intravenous medications at home instead of in the hospital. My friend is David Contorno, a health benefits advisor who is known in the industry for devising insurance coverage for employers that […]
Posted inCosts
Hospital chain financials strong in pandemic, report finds
“Recent reports have raised concerns about the financial stability of hospitals amidst disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the looming prospect of an economic recession. Large amounts of government relief helped prop up hospital margins in 2020 and 2021. However, industry reports suggest that the outlook for hospitals and health systems has deteriorated in 2022 due to the ongoing […]
Posted inCosts
N.Y. hospitals among many with transparency snags
When our recent investigation found that New York City’s public hospitals still have a long way to go when it comes to following a federal mandate requiring price transparency, an expert in health policy told us that’s all too common. Nationwide, all hospitals are required to post prices for their procedures and services on the […]
