1
health-care
health-care
Retired Couples Need $240,000 Just To Cover Health Care Costs
By Chris Morran on May 10, 2012 12:15 PM
80 Comments
If you and your loved one are looking down the road toward living out your golden years together, be prepared to have a pile of cash stashed away to cover your medical bills. More »
People In 49 States Saw Significant Decline In Health Care Access During Last Decade
By Chris Morran on May 9, 2012 3:15 PM
66 Comments
During the previous decade, millions of Americans, regardless of whether they have insurance or not, found it increasingly more difficult to find — or afford — seeing the doctor or dentist, according to a new study from the folks at the Urban Institute. More »
Health Care Fraud Prosecutions Up 78% Since Launch Of Affordable Care Act
By Chris Morran on May 8, 2012 1:33 PM
28 Comments
It's been more than two years since the Affordable Care Act was signed into law, and while the Supreme Court mulls over the reform's future, a look back over the last couple years shows a sharp increase in health care-related criminal fraud charges. More »
Bioethicist: If We're Going To Tax Obese People More, We Should Tax Cat Owners Too
By Chris Morran on May 3, 2012 2:36 PM
216 Comments
A growing number of people believe that obese Americans should pay more in taxes than healthy folks since being overweight can put you at a higher risk for health problems. It's similar to the logic used to justify additional taxes on cigarettes. But bioethicist Art Caplan asks: Why not tax cat owners more while we're at it? More »
(Pfau)
Doctors Skip The Whole Insurance Thing By Charging Monthly Retainers
By Chris Morran on April 23, 2012 12:15 PM
71 Comments
What if, instead of paying hundreds — or even thousands — of dollars each month for health insurance that you may not even be taking advantage of, you paid a retainer of somewhere between $39 to $79 a month to your primary care physician? Some doctors say this kind of service can work out to the benefit of both caregiver and patient. More »
Aetna Hikes Health Insurance Rates For California Small Businesses
By Phil Villarreal on April 6, 2012 9:15 AM
55 Comments
Health insurer Aetna has raised its rates for California small business clients considerably, making for an average increase of 8 percent, with some businesses seeing increases of as much as 21 percent. The California State Insurance Commissioner called the hikes "excessive." More »
(cavale)
Save Money On Medical Bills By Questioning Charges
By Phil Villarreal on February 10, 2012 11:15 AM
60 Comments
When you open up a medical bill your'e usually not stunned by how little the doctor is charging you. Inflated charges, which seem to be the norm in the industry, would be laughable if their implications weren't so crushing. But an invoice doesn't have to be the amount you end up paying. More »
Religious Employers Will Have To Provide Birth Control For Employees
By Phil Villarreal on January 23, 2012 9:30 AM
231 Comments
Religious opposition to birth control won't be a good enough reason for church-affiliated employers to get out of having to cover birth control for employees, according to an announcement from the Department of Secretary of Health and Human Services. Several types of companies will have an extra year to come into compliance with the edict, ushered in by the Obama administration's health care reforms. More »
(msmail)
Study: Only 14% Of Medical Errors Reported By Hospitals
By Chris Morran on January 6, 2012 5:00 PM
56 Comments
In order for a hospital to participate in the Medicare program, it must develop and maintain a Quality Assessment and Performance Improvement (QAPI) program to "track medical errors and adverse patient events, analyze their causes, and implement preventive actions and mechanisms that include feedback and learning throughout the hospital." However, a new study by the Dept. of Health & Human Services found that only a small portion of patient errors are being reported — and that hospitals don't seem to give a damn about fixing things. More »
(Keltose)
Keep It In Your Pants Until You Double-Check Your Insurance
By Phil Villarreal on December 29, 2011 11:15 AM
69 Comments
Maybe someday you'll sit your future child on your knee and reassure him he was created with budgetary responsibility in mind. Those who check out the quirks of their health insurance policies beforehand and babymake accordingly will be able to do just that. More »
Bank Of America Decides To Let Foreclosed-Upon Family Stay In House Until Wife Dies
By Chris Morran on December 22, 2011 3:15 PM
82 Comments
At the intersection where Foreclosure Ave. crosses Health Care Blvd. lives a California couple who had to choose between mortgage and the health insurance needed to cover the wife's late-stage amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Until recently, it looked like they would be forced to vacate the house they'd bought 15 years ago, but Bank of America has decided to delay the eviction until after the wife's death. More »
More Americans Getting Their Medical Care At Retail Locations
By Chris Morran on November 23, 2011 2:30 PM
68 Comments
A growing number of supermarkets, drugstores and other retailers are opening in-store clinics offering everything from flu shots to dental, vision and general medical care. And the people aren't shying away from using these services. More »
Consumers Union: Public Needs Full Access To Database Of Problem Doctors
By Chris Morran on November 14, 2011 3:30 PM
26 Comments
In September, the Department of Health and Human Services removed the Public Use Data File of the online National Practitioners Data Bank after receiving a complaint from a doctor whose history of malpractice claims was published in a newspaper article. Public access was recently restored, but with a whole host of limitations that our cohorts at Consumers Union think need to be removed. More »
Supreme Court Agrees To Hear Health Care Reform Case
By Chris Morran on November 14, 2011 11:21 AM
119 Comments
We all knew this was going to happen; it was just a matter of when. Today, the Supreme Court announced it would hear the appeals in the case to strike down — at least in part — the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. More »
4 Out Of 5 Metropolitan Areas Lack Competitive Health Insurance Markets
By Chris Morran on October 25, 2011 1:15 PM
38 Comments
If you've been thinking that your options for health insurance coverage have been dwindling in recent years, you're probably correct. A new report from the American Medical Association found that 83% of metropolitan areas in the United States lack a competitive commercial health insurance market. More »
(jaubele1)
Good Luck Trying To Find Out How Much A Medical Procedure Will Cost
By Chris Morran on October 24, 2011 4:15 PM
114 Comments
A new report from the folks at the Government Accountability Office has confirmed what anyone who has ever tried to get a clear estimate on what a medical procedure already knows: There's a good chance you can't. More »
(RowJimmy)
Walmart Won't Add Many Future Part-Timers To Health Insurance Rolls
By Phil Villarreal on October 24, 2011 8:00 AM
192 Comments
In health insurance-aimed cost-cutting maneuvers, Walmart won't subsidize health insurance for future employees who work fewer than 24 hours a week. Also, new part-timers who work fewer than 33 weekly hours won't be able to add spouses to their plans. And like workers at most any other company, full-timers with complete health benefits will have more deducted from their paychecks. More »
Vaccine Could Stifle Malaria Menace
By Phil Villarreal on October 19, 2011 9:15 AM
32 Comments
Researchers may be about to take a bite out of malaria. The mosquito-borne disease, which infects 225 million people each year and kills 781,000 victims, but a new vaccine has cut the number of infections of test subjects in half in the year following vaccination. More »
(coffeego)
Study: Binge Boozing Costs Society $2 Per Drink
By Phil Villarreal on October 18, 2011 10:15 AM
69 Comments
After heavy drinkers get to the point that they've had too many, each drink ends up costing society $2 in extra medical expenses and other costs, according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study. The "other" costs result mainly from drunk driving — in funds spent to lock up drunk drivers and damage from accidents. More »
(cavale)
Senate Bill Would Streamline Medical Device Approval
By Phil Villarreal on October 14, 2011 9:45 AM
27 Comments
When it comes to approving medical devices for patients to use, the Food and Drug Administration is handcuffed by conflict of interest rules that it says slow the process. A bipartisan trio of senators have introduced a bill that would ease the rules in favor of getting devices approved quicker, possibly at the expense of medical ethics. More »
