Medical Benefits articles from June 2006

Medical Benefits archives from June 2006

2006 drug trend report.(HEALTH CARE COSTS)
June 30, 2006... Medco, May 19, 2006 "Through careful management of utilization and cost, [our] clients have reduced drug trend to its lowest level in many years. [Drug trend is defined as the annual rate of change in spending on prescription drugs from...

Disease and disadvantage in the United States and in England.(HEALTH CARE COSTS)
June 30, 2006... "The US population in late middle age is less healthy than the equivalent British population for diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, myocardial infarction, stroke, lung disease, and cancer. [This is despite the fact that the] United States...

No exodus: physicians and managed care networks.(HEALTH CARE INDUSTRY)
June 30, 2006... "While the overwhelming majority of physicians continue to contract with insurers, the proportion of physicians nationally without a managed care contract increased from 9.2% to 11.5% between 2000-01 and 2004-05 (Table 1). During the same...

The impact of hours of work on employment-based health benefits.(WORKPLACE HEALTH & BENEFITS)
June 30, 2006... "Since 2000, there has been a reduction in the percentage of individuals under age 65 with employment-based health benefits: 62.4% of the nonelderly population was covered by employment-based health benefits in 2004, compared with 66.8% in...

Small business health plans national survey.(WORKPLACE HEALTH & BENEFITS)
June 30, 2006... "Over 45 million Americans lack health insurance, and over 50% of those are owners or employees of small businesses. Small employers, therefore, are especially important in the fight to bring affordable health coverage to the uninsured. But...

The Commonwealth Fund health care opinion leaders survey.(HEALTH CARE POLICY)
June 30, 2006... "Once again, leaders report that expanding coverage to the uninsured is unquestionably the top priority for Congress to address. This is the top priority for a large majority of leaders from academic/research institutions, health care...

Third annual patient safety in American hospitals study.(HEALTH CARE INDUSTRY)
June 15, 2006... "In response to the increased need for patient safety measurements, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) recently developed and released a set of patient safety indicators (PSIs). Using this same measurement tool, [we have...

January 2006 census shows 3.2 million people covered by HSA plans.(HEALTH CARE INDUSTRY)
June 15, 2006... "The number of people covered by health savings accounts/high-deductible health plans (HSA/HDHPs) was almost 3.2 million in January 2006, more than triple the HSA/HDHP coverage of about one million reported by AHIP members in March 2005...

Who is at greatest risk for receiving poor-quality health care?(HEALTH CARE INDUSTRY)
June 15, 2006... "American adults frequently do not receive recommended health care. How much variation is there among population subgroups in the likelihood of receiving needed care? Previous studies have found that patients who are women, older,...

Financial conflict of interest disclosure and voting patterns at food and drug administration drug advisory committee meetings.(HEALTH CARE INDUSTRY)
June 15, 2006... The Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER) at the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approves 25 to 30 new chemical entities each year, often relying in its decision making on the advice of advisory committees composed of outside...

Financial incentives alone unlikely to curb rising health care costs.(HEALTH CARE COSTS)
June 15, 2006... "A disproportionately large share of companies' health care costs stem from the treatment of a small group of employees and dependents who have chronic or catastrophic illnesses. As a result, companies that focus solely on providing financial...

Rising mental health costs: what are we getting for our money?(HEALTH CARE COSTS)
June 15, 2006... "For most of the past 20 years, mental health spending has increased at a rate close to that of all health spending, with rates of increase rarely deviating by more than one or two percentage points. Between 1990-91 and 2003, the proportion...

2002-2005 Trends in the prevalence of antidiabetic drug therapy in children age 5 years to 19 years.(HEALTH CARE COSTS)
June 15, 2006... "The goal in the treatment of diabetes is normalization of blood glucose and reduction of the risk of acute and chronic complications associated with diabetes. Patients with type 1 diabetes require insulin injections; many patients with type...

The U.S. health care divide: disparities in primary care experiences by income: findings from the commonwealth fund 2004 international health policy survey.(HEALTH CARE POLICY)
June 15, 2006... "Overall, [we find] a health care divide separating the United States from the other four countries. The U.S. stands out for income based disparities in patient experiences--particularly for more negative primary care experiences for adults...

Supreme Court affirms health care plan's subrogation rights.(LEGAL PULSE)
June 15, 2006... A health care plan's claim seeking reimbursement of medical expenses paid on behalf of two beneficiaries out of their personal injury settlement with a third party was equitable in nature, a unanimous Supreme Court has ruled. The plan...

Plan sponsors reminded to process notification info.(LEGAL PULSE)
June 15, 2006... The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' (CMS) has issued a reminder to plan sponsors about the importance of processing notification information. CMS notifies the Retiree Drug Subsidy (RDS) Center when there is an event (e.g., change in...

Updated guidance on creditable prescription drug coverage.(LEGAL PULSE)
June 15, 2006... CMS has issued updated guidance on the notice of creditable prescription drug coverage (Disclosure Notice), which entities that currently provide prescription drug coverage to Medicare beneficiaries must provide pursuant to Medicare Part D...

The Medicare drug benefit: how good are the options?(HEALTH CARE POLICY)
June 15, 2006... "Under the new Medicare Part D prescription drug benefit, California s 4.2 million Medicare beneficiaries are presented with [more than 150] different drug plans. Most beneficiaries must choose between two different plan types: stand-alone...

Employers embrace consumerism to control healthcare costs.(WORKPLACE HEALTH & BENEFITS)
June 15, 2006... "Education and training are critical elements for employers moving toward consumerism programs. [Experts believe that] a lot of education needs to be done by the employer with a focus on prevention and wellness and putting a case management...

MB stat.(Medical Benefits)(Statistical table)
June 15, 2006... MB STAT 2006 Health Savings Account Financial Data from Selected Account Administrators HSA custodian Total HSA accounts Total HSA deposits or administrator 1Point Solutions 14,200 as of 9/05 ...

The business case for weight/obesity management using health coaching interventions.(REFERENCE DESK)
June 15, 2006... An estimated 65% of US adults over the age of 20 are obese or overweight, and obesity now affects 29% of workers. Obesity is estimated to account for 43% of all health care spending by U.S. businesses on coronary heart disease, hypertension,...

The care of patients with severe chronic illness.(REFERENCE DESK)
June 15, 2006... This Report on the Medicare program by the Dartmouth Atlas Project focuses on the care of Medicare beneficiaries with one or more of 12 chronic illnesses that accounts for more than 75% of all US health care expenditures. Among people who...