A report from the Commonwealth Fund studying comparative health spending and quality across 13 industrialized countries finds that the United States is by far the highest spender as a percent…
Read More
Yet another piece of research, this one published in Health Affairs, suggests that hospital readmission rates are a far from perfect, or even good, measure of hospital quality.
Read More
While the state health insurance exchanges required by the health reform law have attracted much attention, the private sector has been busy creating its own exchanges and an Accenture report…
Read More
A new study suggests that Medicare's lower payments to hospitals, contrary to prevailing beliefs, don't lead to cost-shifting and actually lower private insurer payment rates. The reality or mechanism of…
Read More
A study published by the National Bureau of Economic Research finds that greater penetration by Medicare Advantage plans leads to lower rates of hospitalization and mortality for beneficiaries.
Read More
The annual report from the Trustees of the Medicare Trust Funds finds that they are in a little better shape than projected last year because Medicare spending has been below…
Read More
The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality has released its annual report on quality of health care in the United States, covering the year 2012, finding both improvement and room…
Read More
Quality measurement and incentive programs have become the norm but a new Report from the Urban Institute points out serious defects and issues with the design and execution of most…
Read More
Medicare Advantage plans have been a source of controversy, but a new study from the National Bureau of Economic Research suggests that they have beneficial spillover effects across the health…
Read More
Once more into the breach on geographic variation is spending, with the latest analysis examining case mix or patient health adjustments and finding that patient health accounts for 75-85% of…
Read More
The best way to understand health spending and its growth may be to examine the arc of spending over a typical life and to test the effect of better health…
Read More
Overuse of certain medical services is believed to be widespread and to contribute to excessive health spending growth. A review of the literature suggests that no particular organized system of…
Read More
A survey from the International Federation of Employee Benefit Plans examines employer attitudes toward their health plans and changes they may be making in light of the continuing implementation of…
Read More
Several articles in Health Affairs discuss what can be done to ensure that Medicare spending stays in control, including benefit design changes and greater cost-sharing by beneficiaries.
Read More
Self care and self-management of health have the potential to save costs, increase patient engagement and potentially improve outcomes. A study published in the British Journal of Medicine suggests that…
Read More
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.