A study carried in Health Affairs finds that physicians exert a significant influence of patient decisions to use or not to use hospice.
A study finds that having drug coverage through Part D did not appear to improve Medicare beneficiaries’ health, at least by some measures.
A Truven study suggests that CDHP membership may save costs but also may lead to avoidance of needed care.
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed”, with these words the American colonists declared their separation and independence from the government in England. Among the most memorable and important words, because of the power of the idea the words signify, written by humans, many Americans, according to a recent poll, don’t even know what we celebrate on July 4th. The notion that individuals are equal, that they have inherent rights, including freedom, has been reflected most fully and stably in the United States. While today our democracy is challenged, with a massive unelected bureaucracy attempting to govern every aspect of our daily lives, and unelected judges similarly imposing their views on the entire citizenry, this is still the country where most people would like to live. We have problems we need to fix, but we all can be proud that our country generated the ideals that men and women everywhere should and usually do want to live by.
The American Health Policy Institutes issues a report suggesting that maybe there will be a limit to how long we can endure continually rising health spending.
A Kaiser Family Foundation report reviews 2016 premium filings on the health insurance exchanges, finding moderate growth in rates, which likely is deceptive.
Research published in the Journal of Health Economics finds that greater concentration in a hospital or insurer market leads to higher premiums.
A National Bureau of Economic Research paper suggests that Medicaid has a value to its beneficiaries that is less than what it costs government to support the program.
The Supreme Court once again uses very odd and strained reasoning to keep the reform law intact.
A study in Health Affairs furthers the view that higher professional labor costs are one source of excess health spending in the United States, but not a major contributor.