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