Unbiased Analysis of Today's Healthcare Issues
15.3%. Does that seem a little high? If you check your paycheck, the amount of money that is actually deducted from your paycheck for Social Security and Medicare is only 7.65%. Employers, however, pay an equal amount of taxes on your behalf (i.e., an additional 7.65%). Previous studies have indicated that all taxes employers pay…
Do you support Accountable Care Organizations? Many policymakers think they are a great idea. Why? If ACOs better integrate care coordination between a variety of physician specialists and other providers, ACOs can increase the efficiency of the health care system. Improving quality and reducing cost sounds like a great idea. To implement these integrated care settings in…
The Center for Disease Control issued the first official notice of the disease that would become known as AIDS 30 years ago on June 5. My current home, San Francisco, was especially hard hit. NPR interviews physicians at the San Francisco General Hospital and the Center of AIDS Research at University of California, San Francisco. “At…
California think they have found the answer. “The bill in question is AB 52, introduced by Assemblyman Mike Feuer (D-Los Angeles). It would prevent health insurance premium increases from going into effect without the prior approval of the commissioner of insurance or the director of the Department of Managed Health Care, who share jurisdiction over…
A recent article in The New Republic examines some of the cunundrums facing today’s health care system. Most significantly, the article mentions that “In the war against disease, we have unwittingly created a kind of medicine that is barely affordable now and forbiddingly unaffordable in the long run.” The article offers a few suggestions of how…
In their latest 2011, MedPAC made four recommendations to alter payment policy in the home health setting. These include the following: The Secretary, with the Office of Inspector General, should conduct medical review activities in counties that have aberrant home health utilization. The Secretary should implement the new authorities to suspend payment and the enrollment…
In addition to today’s 5th anniversary Cavalcade of Risk, here are some more links to get you through a shortened workweek. Are local and state unfunded pension liabilities $800 billion or $3 trillion? Measles epidemic? Can skin cells become neurons? Google tracks Dengue Fever. Does prescription drug coverage reduce hospitalizations? Does more medical spending improve…
Russell Hutchinson at Moneyblog hosts the Fifth Anniversary edition of the Cavalcade of Risk.