A new report from Magellan subsidiary iCore provides information on trends in specialty drugs covered under a plan's medical benefit, indicating that these compounds' use and cost continues to rise…
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A report from the Urban Institute projects what savings might be available from greater use of intensive care management for persons with serious, multiple chronic diseases.
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Welcome to 2012, when you can once again expect a series of high-quality Potpourris from our immense data bank! Our initial foray includes the Independence at Home CMS demo, discharge…
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The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality examines the supposed mechanisms by which public reporting of provider performance on quality measures will improve outcomes and details the evidence which supports…
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We appear to be in the midst of a hiatus in rapid health spending growth and health price inflation, a view reinforced by two recent reports from the Altarum Institute.…
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A draft evidence report from AHRQ looks at end-of-life and hospice care. End-of-life care is often fingered as one of the causes of increasing health spending. The report finds moderate…
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Our final commentary of 2011 reflects on developments in health care for the year. Notably, support for the health reform law continues to be weak and health care cost growth…
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One reason given for the need for the reform law was the growth in health insurance costs, although it is yet unclear whether the law reduces or increases those costs…
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Another one of the concepts being counted on to help improve health care quality and lower costs in the wake of reform is the "medical home." An AHRQ draft review…
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How much does health spending per person vary across the fifty states and does that variance occur equally in the commercially insured population, Medicaid eligibles and Medicare beneficiaries? These and…
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Our penultimate Potpourri delivers the quality you are accustomed to (for good or bad), including presents of health information on the Medicare physician payment method, telemonitoring results in the UK,…
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A study reported in the American Journal of Managed Care follows up on the comparative geographic variation in spending on Medicare patients and commercially insured ones in Texas, finding that…
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Physicians have felt under assault for decades, with managed care restrictions, low reimbursement and malpractice concerns leading the charge. A new survey from Deloitte's Center for Health Solutions give doctors'…
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Another excellent report from EBRI regarding consumer-driven health plans finds continued growth and continued evidence that members of these plans appear to be more engaged in their health and health…
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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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