The official report on national health spending for 2010 has been finalized by the Office of the Actuary at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The increase over 2009…
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Research in the New England Journal of Medicine suggests that Medicare Advantage health plans use offering of certain non-required benefits, like fitness club memberships, to attract and retain healthier beneficiaries,…
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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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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.