According to Aetna and Cigna, a significant portion of the enrollees front the exchanges have dropped coverage since enrolling. In Aetna's case, it has lost a quarter of its 700,000 enrollees.
A Deloitte Center for Health Solutions analysis of filings to date for individual policies sold on the insurance exchanges finds that 2015 rates will rise an average of 8.2% to a monthly mean of $385. Very affordable and such a modest increase when wages are rising at about 1% to 2%.
The FDA is issuing two guidances of interest to lab test makers, one that finalizes guidance on companion diagnostics used with certain drug treatments and one that announces FDA's intent to more comprehensively regulate "home-brew" or laboratory-developed tests, which previously had little to no scrutiny of their accuracy and reliability.
A letter to JAMA discusses a study regarding the public's use of online doctor rating sites, finding that 65% of respondents were aware of online rating sites and 19% found them very important in selecting a doctor and 40% somewhat important.
Research in Health Services Research finds that Medicare Advantage plans controlled by provider systems have higher premiums, but also higher quality scores.
An article in JAMA finds that most uninsured adults eligible for the Medicaid expansion are healthier than the current Medicaid enrollees, but a significant cohort have uncontrolled chronic disease that may require significant medical services.
A survey of health care-associated infections published in the NEJM finds that about 650,000 patients contracted these during 2011 in acute care hospitals. That is a lot.
The Choosing Wisely initiative is an effort by the physician community to identify services that should be avoided due to lack of benefit considering the cost. A critique in JAMA suggests improvements to the method and rationale for selecting services.
A study in NEJM found that adverse events for patients hospitalized with heart attacks or heart failure declined from 2005 to 2011 but not those for patients with pneumonia or needing surgery.
Health Care Service Corporation released findings of a study which it says show that members who switched from traditional coverage to a high deductible plan had significant cost savings and used wellness and other health management tools more often.
Physical therapy is widely prescribed for patients with hip arthritis pain. A study in JAMA suggests that this is probably a waste of money. A sham therapy was actually more effective than real physical therapy, perhaps an extreme example of placebo effect. I love these kinds of studies.
According to ZS Associates, physicians continue to make themselves less accessible to drug company sales representatives, with 49% placing moderate to strong restrictions on access compared to only 23% in 2008.
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.
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.