Supposedly the reform act will be fully implemented next January and millions of Americans will be getting health insurance for the first time. A brief from CMS discusses who the…
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The latest salvo in the hospital pricing war is found in the American Journal of Managed Care, which reveals significant above general inflation increases in the costs of hospital services.
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The most recent issue of Health Affairs focuses on health and wellness. One of the programs reported found that in a health system's employee population, hospitalizations were reduced but not…
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iCore, a unit of Magellan, presents its third Medical Pharmacy & Oncology Trend Report, which indicates that specialty pharmacy costs continue to grow very rapidly, despite increased management attention from…
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When the reform law was being sold to a dubious public, we were told that premiums would actually be lower. That is obviously not going to be the case, but…
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An article in Health Affairs discusses an alternative to patient engagement on health care decisions--using the findings of behavioral economics and pyschology to encourage patients to adopt a desired path…
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The latest Towers Watson/National Business Group on Health survey of employers reveals information regarding strategies relating to the implementation of the health reform law. Much of what companies say they…
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Adding to the controversy about Medicare Advantage payments, a Government Accounting Office report suggests that diagnoses coding excesses may be inflating payments.
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Several studies in Health Affairs focus on consumer decision-making in health care and how to "improve" that decision-making, which often seems to mean how to get the patient to agree…
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The 2012 Express Scripts Drug Trend Report indicates that spending for traditional medications has actually fallen, while costs for specialty drugs continue to soar. More of the same is likely…
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