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Employers offer workers fewer healthcare plans
New York Times - 11-17-2008 - It's the annual open enrollment season in corporate America, when employees choose their medical plans for the coming year. But this time, many workers are finding that the buffet of options has been trimmed to a very short menu. And typically the offerings now include a health plan with a high annual deductible that is likely to be $1,100 or more for an individual, and much higher for family coverage.
Cuomo Investigating Colleges’ Deals With Health Insurers
New York Times - 11-16-2008 - The New York attorney general began sending subpoenas and document requests this month to colleges including Columbia, Cornell, Georgetown and several State University of New York campuses as part of an investigation of relationships between the colleges and health insurance companies that cover students.
Picking a Medicare plan
Chicago Sun Times - 11-17-2008 - Here we go again. Starting today, seniors have six weeks to sign up for another year of Medicare Part D -- the prescription drug benefit -- that goes along with Medicare Part A (hospitalization), Part B (outpatient and doctor costs) and Medigap (the supplement that covers other costs including co-payments and deductibles).
Medicare finalizes 1.1% pay raise, bonus criteria
American Medical News - 11-24-2008 - The final Medicare physician fee schedule for 2009 shows just how large a bullet doctors dodged when they successfully lobbied Congress this year for a payment patch. It also spells out how some of them can move past that close call and secure a relatively healthy raise for next year's work.
Finding the right floor: How much should insurers spend
on medical care?
American Medical News - 11-24-2008 - News about health insurance companies -- policy rescissions, multimillion-dollar settlements over unfair business practices, soaring premiums -- raised an urgent question for state legislators. How much of the premiums their constituents paid was going to CEO salaries, overhead and efforts to maximize profits, rather than to doctors and patient care? ...Her statement accompanied a report from the California Medical Association detailing what managed care companies spent on medical care in the fiscal year ended June 30, 2007.
Obama win accelerates drive for health system reform
American Medical News - 11-24-2008 - Democratic control of the White House and gains in both houses of Congress have raised expectations for comprehensive health system reform to their highest levels since the early 1990s, when the party last found itself in a similar position.
South Korea joins lucrative practice of inviting medical tourists to its hospitals
New York Times - 11-17-2008 - South Korea has joined Thailand, Singapore, India, and other Asian nations in the lucrative business of medical tourism. The number of foreigners coming to South Korea for medical care is still a fraction of those getting treatment in India, Thailand, and Singapore, industry officials said. But clinics and the South Korean government are trying hard to attract these tourists, who not only bring in money for cash-strapped hospitals but also help the economy by staying after their procedure is over. The South Korean government has revised immigration rules to allow foreign patients and their families to get long-term medical visas and altered laws to permit local hospitals to form joint ventures with foreign hospitals in some cases.
Agency offers ways to divert nonemergency patients from new County-USC
Los Angeles Times - 11-17-2008 - For generations, Los Angeles County-USC has been seen as the hospital of last resort. But as the crowded hospital moves into its new, smaller home, officials have a message to its most frequent users: Please, please stop coming in so much. Because the hospital serves the poor and uninsured, some patients come back time and again, contributing to overcrowding. So about four years ago a Los Angeles-based nonprofit was asked to study why some patients visit the emergency room so frequently.
Drive-by flu shots
Time - 11-17-2008 - With a record 140 million flu vaccinations expected to be administered this year in the United States, hospitals and health clinics have started offering drive-through flu shots. But critics say that the process is dangerous.
Doctor Wants Improved Ski Safety After Death of Daughter
News10.net - 11-12-2008 - Doctor Dan Gregorie will go before the State Legislature today to give his recommendations on what can be done to improve safety at Northern California area ski resorts. Dr. Gregorie's daughter, Jessica, was killed in a skiing accident at Alpine Meadows Ski Resort on February 5th, 2006. Following her death, Dr. Gregorie founded the California Ski and Snowboard Safety Organization in her memory. The organization, backed by the California Medical Association, would like to see more uniform signs used at ski resorts warning of potential dangers.
Small Firms Shiver as Health Premiums Rise
Wall Street Journal - 11-17-2008 - Already struggling in a tough economy, many small employers are about to face another big hit: markedly higher increases in health-insurance premiums as they head into 2009.
For many of these companies, the steeper increases couldn't come at a worse time, when the economy is weakening and credit is harder to come by.
Scouting Drug Savings
Wall Street Journal - 11-15-2008 - The cost of prescriptions continues to rise, but consumers have a number of ways to save, including purchasing their medications by mail, switching to generic drugs, and even comparing manufacturers' prices. The key is to shop around, ask lots of questions and use the resources available.
Spending on prescription drugs in the U.S. has soared, climbing to $216.7 billion in 2006 from $40.3 billion in 1990, according to a September report by the Kaiser Family Foundation. The average retail prescription price climbed to $69.91 in 2007 from $35.72 in 1997. At the same time, more of the cost has been shifted to consumers, even if they're insured.
