Although they attempt to hide it in a blizzard of other numbers, HHS revealed that the average premium on the federal exchanges for benchmark plans will go up by 7.5%. Yep, we are all enjoying that 10% premium reduction that the reform law was going to bring. And we all got 7.5% income increases for next year too.
A McKinsey analysis looks at Medicare Advantage Plans Star ratings for 2016.
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An outstanding economic paper published by the National Bureau of Economic Research explores in some complexity the overall effects of a high deductible on consumer behavior. A must read.
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An analysis from HealthGrades reports on variable quality among hospitals in the same geography.
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You may have noticed that there soon will be none of the health insurance cooperatives established (and taxpayer-funded) under the reform law, as every week brings news of closures of more of them. Strangely, no boasting from the Administration about this latest indication of the great success of their health reform.
http://www.vaildaily.com/news/18720558-113/colorado-health-co-op-calling-it-quitsAn Issue Brief from the Employee Benefit Research Institute examines data from a large employer in regard to wellness program incentives and participation.
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Population health management (whatever that means) vendor Welltok has acquired Zamzee to add to its offerings to encourage children to participate in health improvement activities.
http://welltok.com/release_detail.html?ix=2dqk3UXhtuygomSeOyoMGM&name=welltok-acquires-zamzee-to-optimize-the-health-of-children-and-their-familiesCollective Health collects a collective $81 million in funding from collegial investors for its tools to help employers with their health benefit offerings.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/21/business/dealbook/collective-health-insurance-services-start-up-focused-on-employers-raises-81-million.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=23027254&_hsenc=p2ANqtz--vz2nyQ1LegixapKBmL22FpjG4sQAGm63ohgNXSGnafaQWBTCiaiMa7sOofu19mfaITFFlCzXT7jjylWzHJ38GHfIK9Ssec5678BNt8g3GqeEIi18&_hsmi=23027254&_r=0Research in JAMA Internal Medicine finds that greater hospital ownership of physician practices leads to a significant increase in prices for services.
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Redox attracts $3.5 million in new investment to help providers communicate across disparate EHR and other HIT systems.
http://medcitynews.com/2015/10/redox-raises-3-5-million-to-support-growth-of-its-network/?utm_source=MedCity+News+Subscribers&utm_campaign=f3dac157d5-MCN+Daily+Email&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_5092836c41-f3dac157d5-408793005&rf=1HC1 gets another $13.2 million in funding to support its data sharing platform for providers of health care services.
http://medcitynews.com/2015/10/hc1-raises-13-2-million-to-boost-sales-team-and-strategic-partnerships/?utm_source=MedCity+News+Subscribers&utm_campaign=f3dac157d5-MCN+Daily+Email&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_5092836c41-f3dac157d5-408793005&rf=1About this Blog
The Healthy Skeptic is a website about the health care system, and is written by Kevin Roche, who has many years of experience working in the health industry. Mr. Roche is available to assist health care companies through consulting arrangements through Roche Consulting, LLC and may be reached at khroche@healthy-skeptic.com.