News of the day: Ways to save money, a pair of stories from ProPublica (with graphics and charts) about where the money goes in medicine, and more! How to Spot and Fight Medical Billing Errors mint.com Financial Ties Bind Medical Societies To Drug and Device Makers – ProPublica. With USA Today Medical Groups Shy About […]
Posted inCosts, Health plans, Health reform, Patients, Providers, Regulators
Rising health costs: A Harvard analysis
This is kind of wonky, but here goes. One of the links posted earlier this week was to a Harvard School of Public Health slide series on managing health care costs. It’s a great analysis from a medical and business perspective on why things cost so much and what actions might be taken to effect […]
Posted inCosts, Providers, Uncategorized
Why do hospital costs vary so much?
Hospital costs vary widely. The reasons are often in dispute. The value of analysis, though, is clear. “[N]early 30 percent of Medicare‟s costs could be saved without negatively affecting health outcomes if spending in high- and medium-cost areas could be reduced to the level in low-cost areas—and those estimates could probably be extrapolated to the […]
Posted inCosts, Health plans, Health reform, Patients, Providers, Regulators
The roundup: Health reform, journalism, costs and hospital safety
A British View of the US Health Reform and US Health Journalism | Reporting on Health. The Annenberg School for Communications at the University of Southern California Harvard School of Public Health analysis (in slides) of the health-care crisis HSPH Hundreds of thousands of 20-somethings join parents’ health-care plans under new health law Kaiser Health […]
Posted inCosts, Health plans, Patients, Providers
Paul Krugman: Partially right
I hate to disagree with Paul Krugman, the stellar New York Times economist, but I must. In a column a few days ago, he wrote that it is wrong to refer to medical patients as consumers, and that the giving and getting of medical care “can be reduced to money” is “sickening.” While I generally […]
Posted inCosts, Health plans, Patients, Providers, Regulators
Roundup: Insurance, Medicaid, technology, house calls
Illinois Insurance Chief (Soon to Head U.S. Insurance Office) Sees Market Becoming More Concentrated — Kaiser Health News “Are you hearing anecdotal stories from consumers? “We sure are. People in the pre-Medicare age have a lot of trouble receiving individual and family coverage. Historically someone in that group would receive an offer of coverage […]
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Ways to save: Beating back health-care costs
As part of our mission to help you save money by beating back your health-care costs, we’re starting a series of blog posts giving practical consumer advice about the marketplace. These posts are based on things we’ve learned in our reporting that many people may not know. As always, our posts should in no way […]
Posted inUncategorized
Health costs: Generics and primary care
The rising use of generic drugs has led a decrease in out-of-pocket payments, NPR reports, adding that more than three of every four prescriptions fulfilled last year were for generics. “All 10 of the most prescribed medicines in the U.S. last year were generics, led by the defending champion generic equivalents of Vicodin (hydrocodone plus […]
Posted inUncategorized
Those expensive stitches
And a tip of the hat to www.medicalbillingandcoding.com. Read and weep.
Posted inCosts, Health plans
Health cost fraud: The Most Wanted
This is for real: a Web site from the Health and Human Services Department showing the most wanted fugitives committing Medicare and Medicaid fraud. For example: “Carlos, Luis, and Jose Benitez, commonly referred to as the Benitez brothers, allegedly schemed to submit false and fraudulent claims to Medicare, pocketing approximately $110 million from Medicare, according […]
