Patients Want To Read Doctors' Notes, But Many Doctors Balk

This is a fascinating article about viewing your own patient records.  As I advise my clients, everyone should check their chart at the Doctor's office - preferably after each appointment.  You do need to see what a doctor is writing about you - his or her notes can often make you ineligible for insurance.  I've had many clients encounter problems when medical records are requested by the insurance company, and they find that something was written about them that either wasn't true, or was simply erroneous.  If you read the comments associated with this article, you see examples of other issues occurring - including potential medical mistakes and errors in how you - the patient - are actually treated.

Read the actual article here . . . .

More Congressional Efforts to Redesign Medicare are Underway

http://capsules.kaiserhealthnews.org/index.php/2011/12/wyden-joins-forces-with-ryan-on-medicare/comment-page-1/#comment-23070

Take a look at the latest efforts regarding revamping of Medicare.  Looks like efforts to privatize - just masked behind a new "compromise".  May very well be a wolf in sheeps clothing if we're not paying attention . . . . .

Health Care & the Super Committee - the Cost of Failure

This article by Joe Paduda lays out some dire implications if the Super Committee doesn't come to an agreement in the time allotted.  Very realistic and pretty awful predictions of what could happen here . . . .

http://careandcost.com/2011/11/18/health-care-and-the-super-committee-the-cost-of-failure/

I still constantly wonder, who on the Hill is actually working for the people anymore? . . . .

States Continue to Cut Medicaid - Hospital Stays Reduced Due to Cost

Once again, Medicaid is the target of cuts that will most likely result in the rest of us bearing the cost of hospitals "eating" the costs they incur that are not reimbursable.  They cannot turn those that are already sick or in need of treatment away, as they can't just flip people already in the hospital out of their beds when an arbitrary date comes around.  If they have to absorb those costs, the rest of us will end up paying for it in higher insurance rates & in other ways - maybe even through other cuts to programs we may want sustained over time, like Medicare.

Maybe one big cost we could cut here in the US would be the cost of healthcare benefits for our members of Congress . . . .I'm tired of paying for them . . . . .

Read more here:  http://www.zanebenefits.com/blog/2011/10/425/States+Continue+to+Cut+Medicaid+-+Hospital+Stays+Reduced+Due+to+Cost

Development of "Essential Benefits" package underway

In accordance with Health Care Reform, the development of the framework for what will be considered an "Essential Benefits Package" is underway.  Read more here . . . .

http://www.lifehealthpro.com/2011/10/10/essential-health-benefits-first-silver-then-fire?utm_source=HCRW&utm_medium=eNL&utm_campaign=LifeHealthPro_eNLs

An interesting take on the Ryan plan for Medicare

This is a thoughtful analysis of how something like the Ryan plan would affect Medicare beneficiaries.
http://healthpolicyandmarket.blogspot.com/2011/09/ryan-health-care-proposalsnot-your.html

Bad Language: Words One Patient Won’t Use (And Hopes You Won’t Either)

This is a really good article about language that is currently being used in the general public discussions regarding healthcare.  The names they use for "patients" and "people" have been engineered to make it sound has if the patient, or "consumer" of health care services has more power in our system than they actually have.  This all feeds into the notion that people have a lot of personal choice within the existing healthcare system, when in reality, they don't.  This leads to situations where "choice" translates into extra burdens for the patient on a number of fronts - whether it's insurance coverage particulars and/or the quality of the medical care being received - it now becomes the patient's responsibility to know everything and become the manager of his/her own care - usually while ill.

In this article, the author, Jesse Gruman, discusses what those labels really mean and how that translates into actual reality for the patient or person being affected.  To read the entire article, click this link:
http://careandcost.com/2011/08/11/bad-language-words-one-patient-wont-use-and-hopes-you-wont-either/

Big Name Drugs to go Generic

Big-name drugs go generic

Some of the most popular prescription drugs are about to get a lot cheaper.  According to the mail-order pharmacy Medco, at least 22 prescribed medications may be available as generics in the next year.

When drug companies develop a drug the FDA usually grants them exclusive rights to market that drug for a set period of time.  When those rights expire, other companies can make the exact same drug.  Since there is competition, the generics are cheaper.  The FDA says the regulations are “designed to promote a balance between new drug innovation and generic drug competition.” 

Click the link to read the entire article from CNN -
http://thechart.blogs.cnn.com/2011/07/26/big-name-drugs-go-generic/

Key Elements of the Debt Deal

Here's a summary of the final debt deal  http://news.yahoo.com/factbox-key-elements-possible-u-debt-deal-025527016.html

Insurers must cover birth control with no copays

WASHINGTON (AP) — Health insurance plans must cover birth control as preventive care for women, with no copays, the Obama administration said Monday in a decision with far-reaching implications for health care as well as social mores.
The requirement is part of a broad expansion of coverage for women's preventive care under President Barack Obama's health care law. Also to be covered without copays are breast pumps for nursing mothers, an annual "well-woman" physical, screening for the virus that causes cervical cancer and for diabetes during pregnancy, counseling on domestic violence, and other services.
"These historic guidelines are based on science and existing (medical) literature and will help ensure women get the preventive health benefits they need," said Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.

Read the entire article here:  http://www.benefitspro.com/2011/08/01/insurers-must-cover-birth-control-with-no-copays

We Are Reaping What We Have Sown—The Debt Standoff

Here's a good article regarding the current Debt Standoff.  Given that whatever agreements are made are sure to impact health care coverage in the future, it's important that we understand what's happening here and how it will affect us personally.

http://healthpolicyandmarket.blogspot.com/2011/07/we-are-reaping-what-we-have-sewnthe.html

Fixing glitch in Obama's health law saves $13B

By RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR, Associated Press – 18 hours ago 

WASHINGTON (AP) — Memo to President Barack Obama and the debt negotiators: You can save $13 billion by fixing a glitch in the new health care law.

That amount may pale in comparison to the "big deal" the president's looking for, but negotiators have got to start somewhere to reach the goal of cutting deficits by $4 trillion over a decade. And the fix would not increase the number of uninsured people.

"This proposal represents an area of savings where there is a rare opportunity for agreement on both sides of the aisle," said Sen. Mike Enzi of Wyoming, senior Republican on the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.

Enzi introduced legislation Monday to fix a glitch that would have allowed some middle-class early retirees to get health insurance at virtually no cost by qualifying for Medicaid coverage meant for the poor. Democratic Sen. Ben Nelson of Nebraska introduced a similar bill, signaling the fix could have bipartisan support.

The problem came to light recently, an obscure provision of the complex health care law that changed the current practice of counting Social Security benefits as income for deciding who can get Medicaid.

The mix-up also would have created unintended consequences for tax credits that Obama's law provides to make private health insurance more affordable for people who purchase coverage individually.

An early retiree drawing Social Security would have paid much less for the same policy than a neighbor of the same age, similar medical history, earning the same total income from work.

Tax credits and a Medicaid expansion are part of the law's big push to cover the uninsured, which starts in 2014.

Health and Human Services spokeswoman Erin Shields welcomed Enzi's involvement. "We look forward to studying his proposal," she said. The administration is exploring options for a fix.

The Associated Press first reported the problem last month, after Medicare Chief Actuary Richard Foster raised concerns and said he was having trouble getting policymakers interested. The nonpartisan actuary's office conducts long-range cost estimates for government health care programs.

"I try to stay out of policy issues, but this is one where I think a change is in order," Foster told the House Budget Committee last week. Earlier, he said the glitch "just doesn't make sense."

Enzi's legislation would reverse the health care law, requiring Social Security income to be counted when determining eligibility for Medicaid and for tax credits to purchase private insurance.

In a memo provided by the senator's office, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated the legislation would reduce the deficit by about $13 billion between 2014 and 2021, without raising the number of uninsured people.

"The change in the income definition is estimated to have a negligible effect on the number of individuals who are uninsured," said the CBO memo. People would still be able to get coverage, they just wouldn't be getting it free or as heavily discounted. The fix would affect about 500,000 to 1 million people a year, a smaller number than the 3 million Foster's office had estimated.

Rep. Diane Black, R-Tenn., was introducing companion legislation to Enzi's in the House.

Copyright © 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

The Ryan Medicaid Plan - a Threat to Middle Class Security

The Medicaid changes in the Ryan budget plan would have extraordinary implications not only for poor individuals but for a very broad swath of middle-class families, as a very big share of Medicaid benefits protects middle class families from financial disaster in the event of severe accidents, catastrophic illness of prolonged infirmity in old age.

If Medicaid benefits are cut as outlined under the Ryan plan, the majority of middle class families will be at significantly greater risk of facing financial catastrophe at some point in their lives.  Read more at the link below:

http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2011/07/ryan_medicaid.html

Obama calls meeting with leaders 'constructive' - Medicare cuts put on hold

http://www.benefitspro.com/2011/07/07/obama-calls-meeting-with-leaders-constructive


WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama declared a debt-crisis session Thursday with congressional leaders was "very constructive" but said the parties were still far apart on deficit reduction proposals. He said he would reconvene the negotiators on Sunday.

Thursday's meeting came amid signals that the White House was willing to reduce costs for major benefit programs including Social Security and Medicare, while Republicans indicated they might consider new steps to raise government revenue.

"People were frank," Obama said, just moments after adjourning the one-and-a-half hour meeting with the eight lawmakers who make up the bipartisan leadership of Congress.
Obama acknowledged that the ultimate agreement will not satisfy partisans on both sides, but he said the deal would require both Republican and Democratic votes to pass Congress.
"Everyone acknowledged that pain will be involved politically on all sides," he said.

State Laws Seek to Deny Women Their Reproductive Rights

http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2011/07/laws_abortion.html

This is an interesting piece that examines the other consequences that go with the efforts to curb abortion on a state by state basis.  The laws that are being passed are also limiting much more than abortion - they are denying access to fundamental services that should be available to allow women to plan families, take care of their own health, and in the most dire of circumstances - allow her to work with her physician to take steps to prevent her from becoming gravely ill or dying as a result of a pregnancy.

U.S. Appeals Court Upholds Obama Health Care Law

June 29, 2011
In the first ruling by a federal appeals court on President Obama's health care overhaul, a panel in Cincinnati affirmed Wednesday that Congress can require Americans to have minimum insurance coverage.
A conservative law center had challenged the measure, arguing on behalf of plaintiffs who said potentially being required to buy insurance or face penalties was subjecting them to financial hardship. They warned that the law was too broad and could lead to more federal mandates.
The Thomas More Law Center, based in Ann Arbor, Mich., argued before the panel that the law was unconstitutional and that Congress overstepped its powers.
The government countered that the measure was needed for the overall goal of reducing health care costs and reforms such as protecting people with pre-existing conditions. It said the coverage mandate will help keep the costs of changes from being shifted to households and providers.
The three-judge 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel delivered a long opinion with disagreement on some issues.
"Congress had a rational basis for concluding that the minimum coverage provision is essential to the Affordable Care Act's larger reforms to the national markets in health care delivery and health insurance," Judge Boyce F. Martin, appointed by former President Jimmy Carter, wrote for the majority in the 2-1 ruling.
A George W. Bush appointee concurred; a Ronald Reagan appointee who is a U.S. district judge in Columbus sitting on the panel disagreed. Judges are selected for panels through random draw.
An attorney for Thomas More said the center expects to appeal. It could ask for the full circuit court to review the case or go on to the U.S. Supreme Court.
More than 30 legal challenges have been filed over the health care overhaul, some focusing on different issues.

 

Indiana's bumpy road to privatization

Indiana's bumpy road to privatization

This article describes privatization gone awry . . . .

Supreme Court sides with pharmaceutical industry in two decisions

Supreme Court sides with pharmaceutical industry in two decisions

Reporting from Washington—

The Supreme Court gave the pharmaceutical industry a pair of victories, shielding the makers of generic drugs from most lawsuits by injured patients and declaring that drug makers have a free-speech right to buy private prescription records to boost their sales pitches to doctors.

US man pulls off $1-bank heist - for healthcare in jail!

Would you carry out a bank robbery for just $1 – and cheerfully go to jail for it?
 Well, perhaps you might consider it if you were James Verone of North Carolina – jobless,
 broke, and in desperate need of medical treatment he couldn't afford.
Verone walked into a branch of the RBC Bank in Gaston, NC unarmed, late last week and handed
over a note to the teller saying, "This is a bank robbery, please only give me one dollar."
After she obliged, he told her he would be sitting in a nearby chair, waiting for the police.
The 59-year-old said he did everything he could to get caught so he could receive free health care in jail.
Read More below . . . .

http://www.domain-b.com/industry/Healthcare/20110621_jail!.html

Information added from Kaiser Health News to keep you informed!

I've added some content from Kaiser Health News that should keep you informed about various changes in the world of Health News and Health Care Reform policy changes and issues.  I hope that you'll find this information helpful.  Since there are so many continual changes occurring on many different fronts, I determined that this is the best way for me to continue to help you stay informed.  Happy Reading!