The International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans conducted a survey last year of over 450 employers in the United States and Canada to learn details about their wellness program activities.
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Yet another study, this one carried by Health Services Research, suggests that current methods for encouraging fewer inappropriate hospital readmissions are inadequate to avoid wrongly punishing hospitals for events beyond…
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The always eagerly-awaited Medicare Advantage Call Letter, this one for 2016, is now available, promising a meager premium increase for plans.
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A survey sponsored by Evolution1's Healthcare Trends Institute focuses on employer health benefit trends.
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A paper from Elsevier explores reasons for the recent uptick in generic drug prices.
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Research in the New England Journal of Medicine looks at whether the most recent guidelines in blood pressure control would lead to cost savings.
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CMS is extending hospital readmission penalties to surgeries. An article in the Journal of the American Medical Association examines reasons for such readmissions, which is kind of a core predicate…
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Two recent evaluations have examined the effects of using "medical homes" on various outcomes. Today we look at how the CMS version is faring.
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The Government Accounting Office examines what causes variation in the pricing of certain high-cost procedures, finding it is largely attributable to hospital costs.
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A Congressional Budget Office report examines the effects of competition among Part D plans in Medicare's prescription drug benefit.
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A brief from the Centers for Disease Control examines reasons that adults may not have used medications as prescribed, which largely relate to costs.
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The Health Care Cost Institute takes its own look at consumer cost-sharing and price variation.
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Research has generally not supported claims for quality and cost improvements from using telemonitoring, but a new study suggests it can have positive results, although cost control may not be…
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Oops, another study finds that a quality reporting program doesn't seem to make a bit of difference in surgery outcomes and costs.
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Out-of-pocket spending for health care has increased most rapidly for people with employment-related health insurance, according to a study in Health Affairs.
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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.