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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