As high deductible insurance plans continue to cover more Americans, the Employee Benefit Research Institute gives details on the characteristics of enrollees compared to the population at large.
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A new study of pay-for-performance programs finds modest results overall, but better quality improvement for the initially worst-performing physicians.
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The Altarum Institute's briefs on health spending, health care prices and utilization for May 2015 are available and support the notion that spending growth is accelerating.
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A study of financial incentives for participation in a smoking cessation program found that reward-based incentives worked best.
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According to a New York Times analysis, hospitals are continuing to raise prices at a healthy, or depending on your perspective, unhealthy clip.
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A new paper at the National Bureau of Economics suggests that Medicare Advantage plans' risk-score coding gains them billions in additional revenue.
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A widely disseminated and perpetuated myth is that the United States wastes one-third of its health spending. Focus on this lie distracts from finding real improvements for the system.
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PWC's Health Research Institute describes opportunities for billing and payment improvements in the health system in a new report.
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An article in the Wall Street Journal suggests that there will be significant health insurance premium increases for individual policies in many states for 2016.
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A report from large pharmacy benefit manager Express Scripts gives an alarming picture of drug costs for many Americans.
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The annual Milliman Medical Index report reveals continued increases of family medical costs far above the rates of personal income growth or general inflation.
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Health Affairs carries an article discussing the use of fear in ad campaigns on public health issues, such as obesity and smoking.
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Research published in the Annals of Family Medicine finds that for Medicare beneficiaries, being seen by a primary care doctor offering more comprehensive services lowers cost.
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A report from the Government Accounting Office finds that a small number of enrollees account for a very large proportion of Medicaid spending.
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The Pharmacy Benefit Management Institute issues its 2015 Specialty Drug Benefit Report.
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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.