Research published in the New England Journal of Medicine finds that the hospital pay-for-performance program adopted in England did not lead to sustained improvement in mortality rates.
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According to Aetna and Cigna, a significant portion of the enrollees front the exchanges have dropped coverage since enrolling. In Aetna's case, it has lost a quarter of its 700,000 enrollees.
http://news.investors.com/politics-obamacare/081114-712602-obamacare-enrollment-falling-aetna-says.htm?ref=HPLNewsA Deloitte Center for Health Solutions analysis of filings to date for individual policies sold on the insurance exchanges finds that 2015 rates will rise an average of 8.2% to a monthly mean of $385. Very affordable and such a modest increase when wages are rising at about 1% to 2%.
http://www.pwc.com/us/en/health-industries/health-research-institute/aca-state-exchanges.jhtmlThe new health insurance exchange policies don't offer particularly high levels of coverage, as revealed in a report funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
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The FDA is issuing two guidances of interest to lab test makers, one that finalizes guidance on companion diagnostics used with certain drug treatments and one that announces FDA's intent to more comprehensively regulate "home-brew" or laboratory-developed tests, which previously had little to no scrutiny of their accuracy and reliability.
http://www.fiercemedicaldevices.com/press-releases/fda-takes-steps-help-ensure-reliability-certain-diagnostic-tests?utm_medium=nl&utm_source=internalSolvadi is the first of a new group of wonder drugs for Hepatitis C, but its cost is staggering. A brief by Milliman examines the impact of the drug on…
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A letter to JAMA discusses a study regarding the public's use of online doctor rating sites, finding that 65% of respondents were aware of online rating sites and 19% found them very important in selecting a doctor and 40% somewhat important.
http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=1829975There is so much talk about patient engagement that it is worth thinking more carefully about what that means and what it really means for costs and quality.
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An article in JAMA finds that most uninsured adults eligible for the Medicaid expansion are healthier than the current Medicaid enrollees, but a significant cohort have uncontrolled chronic disease that may require significant medical services.
http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=1699906After the first wave of reform law mandated insurance signups, a substantial number of Americans remain uninsured. An Urban Institute brief describes the characteristics of this still-uninsured population.
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A study published by the National Bureau of Economic Research finds that, at least in regard to Medicare spending, patient demands are relatively unimportant but physician beliefs about treatment account…
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The Choosing Wisely initiative is an effort by the physician community to identify services that should be avoided due to lack of benefit considering the cost. A critique in JAMA suggests improvements to the method and rationale for selecting services.
http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=1857323The small group insurance market covers about 19 million Americans. A Mark Farrah Associates report describes the current state of the market.
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About 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.
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