For reasons that are truly mysterious, the Medicare Advantage program has been controversial. New research published in Health Affairs shows that the program has better utilization and spending control than…
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Medication adherence is a serious quality of care issue, although its cost implications are often exaggerated. Research continues apace to understand why people don't take their drugs and what interventions…
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One of the selling points for prescription drugs has been that their use often prevents use of more costly services, like hospitalizations. A new brief from the Congressional Budget Office…
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Our latest Potpourri captures the excitement of the holidays with scintillating items on certificate of need program effects on utilization, the public's views on health care costs and government's role…
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Medication non-adherence has many causes and is likely a serious quality issue. Capgemini, the consulting group, has released a report claiming that such non-adherence adds hundreds of billions of dollars…
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Actuarial firm Oliver Wyman issues a report on Accountable Care Organizations, using questionable math to create the headline-grabbing number of 10% of Americans being covered by ACOs. The report basically…
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The National Committee for Quality Assurance releases its annual report on the state of health care quality in America, based on its collection of various quality measures from health plans.…
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The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is forever tinkering with reimbursement for various providers, usually not getting exactly the results it seeks. An example of this is given in…
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Another in our series of Potpourris, tasty, succulent morsels of health data food, including this week the effect of mammography screening, improving health and health costs, state costs to run…
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Another extensive research paper details the effects of provider consolidation and consequent market power on the health care industry in the United States, and specifically on the growth of health…
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Deloitte Consulting and the American Medical Informatics Association released results from a survey on the state of informatics in health care. Much of the supposed improvements in health care quality…
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A Government Accounting Office report examines access to care for Medicaid beneficiaries, finding a continuing decline in provider willingness to serve these patients, largely due to inadequate reimbursement. With a…
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We want to wish all our loyal (and not so loyal!) readers a wonderful Thanksgiving. A recent poll suggested that many Americans feel that the relentless focus on the shopping aspects of holidays has spoiled their traditional meaning. We hope that you have an enjoyable day with family and friends, who give so much meaning to our lives. We can all be very grateful that we live in this country, with so many freedoms and still so much opportunity.
The Government Accounting Office examines trends in drug spending in Medicare Part B, which covers drugs administered in a doctor's office. Looking at the 55 most expensive Part B drugs,…
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Employee benefits consulting firm releases results from its latest survey of employers on health benefits. While spending growth has moderated in recent years, it continues at an above inflation and…
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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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