Medical Benefits articles from September 2003

Medical Benefits archives from September 2003

Higher rates, lower costs fuel managed care profits.(Health Care Industry)
September 30, 2003... "Many managed care companies are seeing stellar results, and that success is not coming entirely from raising prices (Table 1). Although hefty rate increases continued in the first half [of 2003], lower-than-expected medical costs also fueled...

Patient-physician communication about out-of-pocket costs.(Health Care Industry)(Brief Article)
September 30, 2003... "About 20% of U.S. health care costs are paid by patients out-of-pocket, usually at the point of health care utilization through deductibles, co-payments, and payment of uncovered services. During the past two decades these costs have risen...

Costs of health care administration in the United States and Canada.(Health Care Costs)
September 30, 2003... "In the United States, health care administration cost $294.3 billion. In Canada, health care administration cost $9.4 billion. After exclusions, administration accounted for 31% of health care expenditures in the United States, as compared...

Consumers save on drug purchases with new wave of vouchers.(Health Care Costs)(Brief Article)
September 30, 2003... "Drug patents are [now] expiring on significant, broadly used drug therapies. [Since] generics can be as much as five times less expensive than their brand drug counterparts, managed care plans [are working] to [create] programs that quickly...

National health care trend survey: tenth survey, second half 2003.(Health Care Costs)
September 15, 2003... Buck Consultants, August 2003 "Most trend factors changed slightly since the prior survey. [Key findings:] * Medicare Supplement trends are down by 1-2%. * Medical trend factors have inched up slightly (Figure 1) from those...

Trends in outpatient prescription drug utilization and expenditures: 1997-2000.(Health Care Cost)
September 15, 2003... "National estimates derived from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) indicate there was a significant increase in total outpatient prescription expenditures between 1997-2000. Expenditures for outpatient prescribed medications...

Comparing the medical expenses of adults with medicaid and commercial insurance in a health maintenance organization.(Health Care Cost)
September 15, 2003... "After adjusting for age and sex, [we found that] income-eligible Medicaid-insured adults were $35 (29%) per month more expensive than commercially insured adults. These differences were likely due to higher rates of pregnancy and to worse...

Diagnosis and management of adults with pharyngitis: a cost-effectiveness analysis.(Health Care Cost)
September 15, 2003... "Eighteen million patients sought care for a sore throat in the United States in 1996, making it the sixth leading cause of visits to physicians. Chief among the organisms that cause sore throat are group A [beta]-hemolytic streptococcus...

Health industry sees surge in fraud fines.(Health Care Industry)(a discussion of the surge in penalties in the health care industry)
September 15, 2003... "In the last three fiscal years, the government has amassed $4.21 billion in fines, settlements, and restitution payments from its health-care investigations--well over the $3.29 billion it collected in the prior 10 years combined. So far...

Effects of computerized physician order entry and clinical decision support systems on medication safety: a systematic review.(Health Care Industry)(Brief Article)
September 15, 2003... "Injuries related to medications are common, costly, and clinically significant. Each year, an estimated 770,000 people are injured or die in hospitals from adverse drug events (ADEs), which are injuries resulting from drug use. ...

2003 survey of final-year medical residents.(Health Care Industry)
September 15, 2003... Merritt, Hawkins & Associates, May 21, 2003 Editor's Note: Merritt, Hawkins & Associates has Conducted a survey every two years since 1991 of Medical residents in their final year of training. "Several changes have taken place in the...

Health pulse of America.(Workplace Health & Benefits)
September 15, 2003... Stony Brook University, August 19, 2003 "Nonretired Americans are more concerned bout job-related health care (and other) benefits than [they are about] salary, by a striking margin. When asked whether they would choose a higher paying...

Proposed 2004 physician fee schedule announced.(Legal Pulse)(Brief Article)
September 15, 2003... The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has announced a proposed rule that will update payment rates under the Medicare physician fee schedule for 2004, as well as revise a number of other policies "affecting Medicare Part B...

CMS proposes increase for hospital outpatient services.(Legal Pulse)(Brief Article)
September 15, 2003... The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has issued a proposed rule updating payment rates to hospitals under the outpatient prospective payment system (OPPS) that would increase payments for individual services provided to Medicare...

Medicare announces increase in payment rates for inpatient care.(Legal Pulse)(Brief Article)
September 15, 2003... The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has issued a rule for fiscal year 2004 that includes a 3.4% increase in payment rates beginning October 1, 2003, to hospitals for inpatient services furnished to individuals with Medicare...

Nondaily smokers: who are they?(Workplace Health & Benefits)(Brief Article)
September 15, 2003... "Over the past decade we have learned that as many as one-fifth of current smokers do not smoke on a daily basis. One might suspect that these 'someday' (SD) smokers consist primarily of smokers in transition: young people beginning to smoke...

Primary prevention of cardiovascular disease by an occupational health service.(Workplace Health & Benefits)(Brief Article)
September 15, 2003... "Cardiovascular disease is the major cause of death in many countries. The major causal risk factors for cardiovascular disease are cigarette smoking, high blood pressure, elevated serum cholesterol, low high density lipoprotein...

Health care reform through rationing.(Health Care Policy)
September 15, 2003... "Implementation of a rationing program is likely in the future for the U.S. health care system. The current debate over health care rationing [involves] three key questions: 1. Can medically necessary procedures be ethically denied? ...

Women's access to care: a state-level analysis of key health policies.(Health Care Policy)
September 15, 2003... The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, July 2003 "Nearly one-quarter of women report that the was a time in the last year when they need to see a doctor but did not, and nearly one in five is uninsured. While all health care system...

Eating disorders in white and black women.(Health Care Policy)(Brief Article)
September 15, 2003... Eating disorders pose a considerable threat to young adult women's health and adjustment because they are associated with significant psychosocial impairment and adverse health outcomes, such as loss of bone mass, infertility, and high rates...

MB stat.
September 15, 2003... Top 25 HMOs Ranked by Medicaid Enrollment as of July 1, 2002 Firm Medicaid Total HMO Enrollment Enrollment (1) Blue Cross of California HMO...

Managed medicaid data sourcebook.(Reference Desk)(Brief Article)
September 15, 2003... This data resource, published by National Health Information, has been compiled strictly for at-risk Medicaid providers. It includes the following information: benchmarks for HMO administrative costs, cost and utilization data for Medicaid...

Employer's guide to consumer-directed healthcare.(Reference Desk)(Brief Article)
September 15, 2003... This 64-page guide from the Wye River Group includes an overview of the consumer-directed health care benefits approach and consumer-directed health care benefits, with a discussion of legal, regulatory, financial, and actuarial issues. ...

The federal employees health benefits program: program design, recent performance and implications for medicare reform policymakers.(Brief Article)
September 15, 2003... This new report, prepared by Mark Merlis for the Kaiser Family Foundation, provides a basic description of FEHBP's structure, benefits, financing and operations. It also discusses how FEHBP and Medicare compare in terms of benefits and health...

Tax-advantaged accounts for health care expenses: side-by-side comparison.(Reference Desk)(Brief Article)
September 15, 2003... The House-passed Medicare prescription drug bill includes two new tax-advantaged accounts for health care expenses: health savings accounts (HSAs) and health savings security accounts (HSSAs). Both accounts can be distinguished from Archer...