California singles out docs with higher patient death rates: Kaiser Health News

Jeanne Pinder July 20, 2017

California singles out docs with higher patient death rates: Kaiser Health News

“Michael Koumjian, a heart surgeon for nearly three decades, said he considered treating the sickest patients a badge of honor. The San Diego doctor was frequently called upon to operate on those who had multiple illnesses or who’d undergone CPR before arriving at the hospital,” Anna Gorman wrote recently for Kaiser Health News. “Recently, however, […]

How hospitals got richer off Obamacare: Politico

Jeanne Pinder July 17, 2017

How hospitals got richer off Obamacare: Politico

“A decade after the nation’s top hospitals used all their advertising and lobbying clout to keep their tax-exempt status, pointing to their vast givebacks to their communities, they have seen their revenue soar while cutting back on the very givebacks they were touting, according to a POLITICO analysis,” Dan Diamond writes over at Politico. “Hospitals’ […]

View Post Affordable Care Act charity care Chuck Grassley Politico tax-exempt

Lab charges gone wrong: We saved her $247

Jeanne Pinder July 15, 2017

Lab charges gone wrong: We saved her $247

It’s a medical billing story with a happy ending. The share on our software for a Pap smear associated with a woman’s annual exam said the New Orleans area woman was charged $247, and she had to pay. She said this: “The yearly exam was covered. I choose the doctor because she was in my […]

View Post Cracking the Code how people use our data Humana insurance appeals Pap smear

U.S. number of uninsured up by 2 million: The A.P.

Jeanne Pinder July 10, 2017

U.S. number of uninsured up by 2 million: The A.P.

“The number of U.S. adults without health insurance has grown by some 2 million this year, according to a major new survey that finds recent coverage gains beginning to erode,” Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar writes for The Associated Press. “The new numbers highlight what’s at stake as Congress returns to an unresolved debate over Republican proposals to […]

View Post Affordable Care Act uninsured

Cost of health care Is Americans’ top financial concern: Gallup

Jeanne Pinder

Cost of health care Is Americans’ top financial concern: Gallup

“As the U.S. Senate begins considering legislation that could significantly change the nation’s healthcare system, the cost of healthcare leads the list of what Americans consider the most important financial problem facing their family. The 17% who name healthcare costs as their family’s most pressing financial problem is up seven percentage points since 2013 and […]

View Post Affordable Care Act Gallup

The hidden subsidy that helps pay for health insurance: The New York Times

Jeanne Pinder July 7, 2017

The hidden subsidy that helps pay for health insurance: The New York Times

“As Republican senators work to fix their troubled health care bill, there is one giant health insurance subsidy no one is talking about. It is bigger than any offered under the Affordable Care Act — subsidies some Republicans loathe as handouts — and costs the federal government $250 billion in lost tax revenue every year,” […]

View Post Affordable Care Act employers job-based insurance subsidies

The health care system is leaving the Southern Black Belt behind: FiveThirtyEight

Jeanne Pinder July 6, 2017

The health care system is leaving the Southern Black Belt behind: FiveThirtyEight

“The Black Belt refers to a stretch of land in the U.S. South whose fertile soil drew white colonists and plantation owners centuries ago. After hundreds of thousands of people were forced there as slaves, the region became the center of rural, black America. Today, the name describes predominantly rural counties where a large share […]

View Post Affordable Care Act Anna Maria Barry-Jester Black Belt FiveThirtyEight

Pre-authorization is hell. Here’s why: Kevinmd.com

Jeanne Pinder July 5, 2017

Pre-authorization is hell. Here’s why: Kevinmd.com

“This April, my turn to take the medical board exam rolled back around, necessary every ten years for maintenance of certification. I studied diligently for the better part of three months … It was actually pleasurable to go back over details that I had forgotten and to catch up on newer developments in the field. […]

View Post doctors kevinmd.com Lantus Matthew Hahn Pre-authorization

How to handle the costs of depression: Money magazine

Jeanne Pinder June 30, 2017

How to handle the costs of depression: Money magazine

“For five years, Christine Byrd figured her teenage daughter was going through a phase when she became withdrawn from friends and family and brushed off meals at home. It was only when Pepper Snider turned 17 that she was diagnosed with anorexia, triggering five years of intensive treatment, including thrice-weekly therapy, residential care, and hospital […]

View Post Affordable Care Act Depression mental health Money magazine psychotherapy costs

Providers are newly willing to post cash medical prices: Some things we learned in our New Orleans launch

Jeanne Pinder June 22, 2017

Providers are newly willing to post cash medical prices: Some things we learned in our New Orleans launch

We’ve learned some interesting things about providers publicizing cash or self-pay prices in our New Orleans partnership, “Cracking the Code.” Perhaps not surprisingly, when the people we’re talking with understand how this can benefit them, they give up the prices — information that for years has been a closely kept secret. We start out, as […]

View Post cash prices Cracking the Code hospitals New Orleans

Category: Patients