Medical Benefits articles from August 2003

Medical Benefits archives from August 2003

HMO rates continue double-digit trend but are lower than last year.(Health Care Industry)(Illustration)
August 30, 2003... "Preliminary 2004 health maintenance organization (HMO) rates are averaging almost 18%, continuing a trend of double-digit health care cost increases but showing signs that rate hikes may be starting to moderate. Organizations across the...

Patient-to-nurse staffing ratios: perspectives from hospital nurses.(Health Care Industry)
August 30, 2003... "Hospital nurses believe understaffing is a serious problem that affects the quality of care patients receive. On average, Medical-Surgical (Med-Surg) nurses care for eight patients during a shift, including over two-thirds who care for...

Doctors who are using e-mail with their patients: a qualitative exploration.(Health Care Industry)
August 30, 2003... "Physician respondents did perceive benefits to e-mail with a select group of patients. Physicians who were frequently using e-mail with patients reported better and more-consistent communication with patients who have chronic diseases and...

Women, work, and family health: a balancing act.(Workplace Health & Benefits)
August 30, 2003... "Nearly one-half (48%) of women ages 18-64 have children under age 18 at home. These mothers assume the major rote for their children's health care access by taking primary responsibility for a range of health care activities and decisions....

The EAP/behavioral health carve-out connection.(Workplace Health & Benefits)(Illustration)
August 30, 2003... "In the workplace, there are often two spheres of specialty behavioral health resources: employee assistance programs (EAPs) and behavioral health care insurance benefits. Employers traditionally contract with health plans for both general...

Workforce diagnostic system 2002 benchmarking reports.(Workplace Health & Benefits)
August 30, 2003... "For the second year in a row, approximately half of our survey participants experienced a change to their organization's structure. Cost controls appear to finally be taking hold. One of our broadest measures of productivity, Revenue Factor,...

The prevalence of peripheral arterial disease in a racially diverse population.(Workplace Health & Benefits)(Brief Article)
August 30, 2003... "Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) is a prevalent illness in the primary care setting. PAD is atherosclerosis of the abdominal aorta and arteries of the lower extremities. The disease can exist in a clinically asymptomatic or symptomatic...

Bill allowing reimportation of prescription drugs passes house.(Legal Pulse)(the Pharmaceutical Market Access Act of 2003 passes the U.S. House of Representatives despite lobbying)(Brief Article)
August 30, 2003... The Pharmaceutical Market Access Act of 2003, sponsored by Rep. Gil Gutknecht (R-Minn.), has passed the U.S. House of Representatives, despite intensive lobbying against the measure by the pharmaceutical industry. The bill was also strongly...

JCAHO sets 2004 National Patient Safety Goals.(Legal Pulse)(Brief Article)
August 30, 2003... On July 18, the Board of Commissioners of the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) approved the 2004 National Patient Safety Goals. These goals include the six 2003 National Patient Safety Goals and their...

PacifiCare case to continue to arbitration.(Legal Pulse)(Brief Article)
August 30, 2003... In April, the U.S. Supreme Court said Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act (RICO) violations could be arbitrated even if the arbitration agreement limits the arbitrator's authority to award damages under the Act [PacifiCare...

Fiduciary not required to disclose financial incentives paid to HMO physicians.(Legal Pulse)(Brief Article)
August 30, 2003... As part of their cost-savings initiatives, health maintenance organizations (HMOs) routinely use financial incentives to encourage physicians to ration care in a cost-effective manner. One woman, whose employer offered only one medical...

Tracking health care costs: trends stabilize but remain high in 2002.(Health Care Costs)
August 30, 2003... "Total health care spending per privately insured person increased 9.6% in 2002. Not only was this increase large by historical standards, it was also considerably larger than the rate of growth of the overall U.S. economy (2.7% per capita in...

Impact of direct-to-consumer advertising on prescription drug spending.(Health Care Costs)
August 30, 2003... Promotional spending by pharmaceutical manufacturers has risen steadily in recent years, more than doubling from $9.2 billion in 1996 to $19.1 billion in 2001, an average annual increase of 16% (Figure 3, page 8). While most promotional...

Computer physician order entry: benefits, costs, and issues.(Health Care Costs)(a discussion of the process of implementing computer physician order entry systems)
August 30, 2003... "Computer physician order entry (CPOE) allows physicians to enter orders directly into a computer rather than handwriting them. It provides physicians and other clinicians with an environment that is more appropriate to the complexities of...

How many Medicare beneficiaries will lose employment-based retiree health benefits if Medicare covers outpatient prescription drugs?(Health Care Policy)
August 30, 2003... "Policymakers are concerned that a new Medicare drug benefit may cause employers to drop drag benefits that they provide to Medicare beneficiaries. The news media have reported Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that 37% of Medicare...

Contemporary awareness and understanding of cholesterol as a risk factor: results of an American Heart Association Survey.(Health Care Policy)
August 30, 2003... "Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of mortality in the United States, accounting for more than 40% of all deaths. [We] sponsored a national survey of adults [to determine their] understanding of the relationship between...

MB stat.(a chart of the annual percentage change in hospital payroll costs)(Brief Article)(Illustration)
August 30, 2003... Annual Percentage Change in Hospital Payroll Costs, Hours Worked, and Underlying Wage Rates, 1990-2002 Hospitals Year Payroll Total hours Average Average hourly wage worked (2) hourly...

American health care: why so costly?(Reference Desk)(Brief Article)
August 30, 2003... In invited testimony June 11 before a Senate Appropriations subcommittee hearing on rising health care costs, Karen Davis, president of The Commonwealth Fund, said that greater efficiency in the supply side of the health care system is the...

World Cancer Report.(Reference Desk)(cancer rates could increase by another 50% to 15 million new cases in the year 2020, according to the World Cancer Report)(Brief Article)
August 30, 2003... Cancer rates could further increase by 50% to 15 million new cases in the year 2020, according to the World Cancer Report, the most comprehensive global examination of the disease to date. However, the report also provides clear evidence that...

Safe practices for better healthcare: a consensus report.(Reference Desk)(Brief Article)
August 30, 2003... Representatives of the nation's leading health care and consumer groups have endorsed 30 patient safety practices that should be universally used in health care settings to reduce the risk of harm resulting from processes, systems, or...

2002 drug trend report. (Health Care Costs).
August 15, 2003... Per-member-per-year (PMPY) ingredient costs rose 18.5% to $585.60 in 2002 (Figure 1). As was the case in 2001, PMPY cost increases were higher for managed care clients (20.3%) than for other clients (17.1%). In 2001, however, mix and number...

Surgery raising cost of health care. (Health Care Costs).(Brief Article)
August 15, 2003... "The increasing use of expensive surgical procedures is increasing the cost [of health care]. Among the most costly procedures are bariatric surgery [which reduces the working capacity of obese patients' stomachs], hip and knee replacements,...

A 19-state survey of the high cost of prescription drugs. (Paying The Price).
August 15, 2003... "The federal government uses its buying power to negotiate fairer prices for the drugs it purchases for its beneficiaries--such as veterans, government employees, and retirees. Unfortunately, uninsured individuals have no one doing the same...

Cost of lost productive work time among U.S. workers with depression. (Workplace Health & Benefits).
August 15, 2003... "Evidence consistently indicates that common conditions, including migraine, low back pain, diabetes, allergic rhinitis, gastroesophageal reflux, and depression, dominate health-related lost labor time costs. Among these, depression is among...

2003 workplace safety index. (Workplace Health & Benefits).
August 15, 2003... "The cost of disabling workplace injuries and illnesses grew faster than inflation between, 1998 and 2000, while the direct costs of workers compensation claims are concentrating in a relatively small number of injury causes. The top 10...

MB inflation monitor.(Medical Benefits)(Illustration)
August 15, 2003... [GRAPHICS OMITTED] Consumer Price Index CPI, SECOND QUARTER 2003 Inflation Rate for Medical Care Item Second Past 12 quarter * months ** ...

Healthy, wealthy, and wise. (2003 Workforce Optimas Award Winner).
August 15, 2003... Editor's Note: The Optimas Awards recognize human resources initiatives that create positive business results for their organizations. Optimas Award Winners have produced tangible, measurable business results. "We try to find ways to...

Insurers want changes to Medicare bill. (Health Care Policy).(Brief Article)
August 15, 2003... "Health insurers say for them to turn a reasonable profit, the government must pay them more to administer health maintenance organizations for Medicare beneficiaries. In addition, they want an easing of the requirements set out for the...

Relationship of walking to mortality among U.S. adults with diabetes. (Health Care Policy).(Brief Article)
August 15, 2003... "Diabetes leads to an array of disabling complications, including visual impairment, peripheral and autonomic neuropathy, silent ischemia, cardiac arrhythmias, and an increased risk for sudden death. [Such] complications could make...

CMS issues final rule for outlier payments to hospitals. (Legal Pulse).(Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services)(Brief Article)
August 15, 2003... The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a final rule revising Medicare policies governing outlier payments to hospitals for services to inpatients for whom the costs of treatment greatly exceed the fixed payment under the...

Medical malpractice reform bill dies in Senate. (Legal Pulse).(Brief Article)
August 15, 2003... The Senate did not get the minimum-needed 60 votes to bring the proposed Patients First Act of 2003 up for consideration. The bill, despite being very similar to the House bill that passed in March, was not supported by Democrats. ...

Mental Health Parity Act regulations extended. (Legal Pulse).(Brief Article)
August 15, 2003... The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has extended the sunset date of the interim final regulations under the Mental Health Parity Act from September 30, 2001 to December 31, 2003. This date is now the same as the sunset date set...

House passes Association Health Plan bill. (Legal Pulse).(Brief Article)
August 15, 2003... As many as 75 percent of small businesses in the state-regulated health insurance market would see significant increases in their health insurance premiums due to the effects of the Association Health Plan (AHP) bill passed by the House, a...

EEOC proposes changes to retiree benefits. (Legal Pulse).(Equal Employment Opportunity Commission)(Brief Article)
August 15, 2003... The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has issued proposed regulations that would allow employers to reduce or terminate health benefits for retirees once they become eligible for Medicare coverage without violating the Age...

House bill would require parity for substance abuse treatment benefits. (Legal Pulse).(Brief Article)
August 15, 2003... Rep. Jim Ramstad (R-Minn.) introduced the Help Expand Access to Recovery and Treatment (HEART) Act of 2003 to provide parity with respect to substance abuse treatment benefits under group health plans and health insurance coverage. Under the...

The doctor is out. (Health Care Policy).(Brief Article)
August 15, 2003... "The number of specialists in the United States has not been growing quickly enough to meet the needs of a U.S. population that is both aging and expected to grow 18% between 2000 and 2020. Since the mid-1990s, growth in the number of...

Specialty Hospitals: information on national market share, physician ownership, and patients served. (Health Care Industry).
August 15, 2003... United States General Accounting Office, April 18, 2003 "Specialty hospitals represent a small but growing segment of the health care industry. These hospitals specialize in providing care for certain conditions, such as cardiac care, or...

National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey: 2001 emergency department summary. (Health Care Industry).
August 15, 2003... "Visits to America's emergency departments are up 20% over the past decade. There were an estimated 107.5 million visits to hospital emergency departments in 2001, compared to 90 million in 1992. During the same period, the number of...

Gender, health, and physician visits among adults in the United States. (Health Care Industry).(Brief Article)
August 15, 2003... "We examined how health system, financial, social structure, or health characteristics affect the use of health services differentially by gender. Of particular concern was whether there are gender differences in the likelihood of visiting a...

America's Best Hospitals. (MB Stat).(Brief Article)
August 15, 2003... "These medical centers all ranked high in at least six of the 17 Best Hospitals specialties, demonstrating unusual breadth of excellence. Their rank in the Honor Roll is based on a point system in which hospitals received 2 points for ranking...

Investment in alcohol treatment can boost employers' bottom lines. (Reference Desk).(Brief Article)
August 15, 2003... This fifth in a series of Issue Briefs addressing the effects of alcohol on work and family looks at why it makes sense for companies to address the business cost of problem drinking. Alcohol treatment begins to reduce health care costs right...

Technical explanation of house-passed H.R. 2596 authorizing health savings accounts. (Reference Desk).(Brief Article)
August 15, 2003... This document, prepared by the staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation, provides a technical explanation of H.R. 2596, the Health Savings and Affordability Act of 2003, as passed by the House of Representatives on June 26, 2003. The...

The effects of private insurance on measures of health: evidence from the health and retirement study. (Reference Desk).(Brief Article)
August 15, 2003... In this working paper, National Bureau of Economic Research authors investigate whether the presence of private insurance leads to improved health status. Using the Health and Retirement study, the authors focus on adults in late middle age...

Medicare's future: current picture, trends, and prescription drug policy debate. (Reference Desk).(Brief Article)
August 15, 2003... To help fill the need for independent, objective information about the Medicare program, The Commonwealth Fund has assembled more than 50 PowerPoint slides highlighting recent research and analytical findings on Medicare, including an...