Consumerist
health care
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health care
health care
Judging by the fact that 3 of the 16 remaining candidates for "Worst Company in America" are insurance companies, we suspect that some of you are not happy with the state of health care in this country. With that in mind, we thought we'd direct you to an interesting episode of the PBS documentary series Frontline.
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Can The US Learn Anything From Health Care In Other Countries?
Judging by the fact that 3 of the 16 remaining candidates for "Worst Company in America" are insurance companies, we suspect that some of you are not happy with the state of health care in this country. With that in mind, we thought we'd direct you to an interesting episode of the PBS documentary series Frontline.
More »
identity theft
University Of California Hospital Publicizes 6,000 Patient Records While Mining For Prospective Donors
The University of California's non-profit medical center accidentally exposed 6,000 patient records as part of their continuing effort to hunt for prospective donors. The "large and very significant data breach" was caused by UCSF's data miner, Target America, which received details on almost 40,000 patients. More »
fast food
NJ Gov Interested In Fast Food "Sin Tax"
Not being able to afford to eat at restaurants that don't have a dollar menu may become a sin in NJ, says the Associated Press. Jon Corzine, the governor of a state in which gambling is legal, is considering a suggestion to levy a "sin tax" on fast food in order to help save NJ's underfunded hospitals. More »
readers
UnitedHealth Unapproves Surgery From 2 Years Ago, Wants $7700 Back
United Health Care, not content with merely denying life saving cancer procedures or refusing to pay for basic (covered!) checkups, took things to a new level by retroactively un-approving procedures they paid for in 2005. They sent reader Suzanne a letter and a bill for $7700, claiming the pay-out was an "administrative error", and she needed to pay up. Check out the details, inside. More »
errors computers can catch
Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield Approves Cardiac Rehab Stay Fit For A Time Traveler
In a letter dated March 27, Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield informed Dona that her father was approved to stay in a cardiac rehab center through March 24. Dona's mother began planning for her husband's care shortly before his triple-bypass on March 15. Anthem originally approved the off-site rehab, but changed its mind on March 19, the day before Dona's father was scheduled to be discharged. With the support of his doctors, he filed an emergency appeal so he could move to rehab the next day. The retroactive approval arrived a week later. More »
sick
Suburban Chicago Hospital Will Close After Being Crushed By Too Many Uninsured Patients
If you're in the market for an excellent 410 bed hospital, the Chicago suburb of Blue Island has one that it'll let you have for free, says the Chicago Tribune.In a stunning development underscoring the plight of non-profit hospitals struggling with the increase in uninsured patients, the Catholic ownership of St. Francis Hospital & Health Center on Wednesday said it will shutter the hospital because nobody would buy it.More »
dentistry
Americans Saving Money By Getting Dental Work In Mexico
Americans already save money by purchasing prescription drugs from Canada and getting plastic surgery in South America. Now they're crossing over to Mexican border towns for high-quality dentistry, which can cost over 60% less than comparable work in the U.S. Reuters notes that "a dental crown in the United States costs upward of $600 per tooth, compared to $190 or less in Mexico."More »
saving money
Save On Medical Expenses With Healthcare Credit Cards
Citibank and Bank of America both offer special credit card programs based on health and medical expenses. If you're disciplined about not carrying revolving debt, and you have recurring medical expenses, they can help reduce your total cost over a year. Bank of America's cards are point-based programs—if you've got Aetna insurance, you can accumulate points that you can turn into "cash direct deposits to a health savings account, or other standard rewards." Caremark members can redeem points for awards only, although BoA's standard awards catalogue "includes health and wellness products like fitness equipment and blood pressure monitors." More »
health care
Federal Agency Kills Lifesaving Hospital Checklist Program
The Office for Human Research Protections recently shut down a Johns Hopkins University program that had intensive care units across Michigan following "a simple five-step checklist designed to prevent certain hospital infections." The program resulted in dramatic improvements to patient infection rates, but the federal agency said it was unethical, because a checklist interferes with medical care in the same way an experimental drug does—and because a checklist may put doctors at risk by revealing which ones don't "follow basic infection-prevention procedures."More »
health care
"Overtreated" Says Too Much Healthcare Is Bad For Us
The general theme of the book "Overtreated," the New York Times' pick for best economics book of the year, is that we can cut a significant percentage of our health care costs—"between one fifth and one third," says the author—and not have any impact on our level of health. As a nation, we tend to err on the side of too much treatment, exposing ourselves to unnecessary risks and racking up fees on procedures we could do without. And since doctors depend on a piecemeal approach to earning income, while at the same time dealing with significant financial risks from malpractice suits, they tend to push for more treatment, not less (they need to earn a living while also protecting themselves from accusations of doing too little). More »
health care
10 Secrets Of Primary Care Physicians
The latest SmartMoney list of insider secrets and unpleasant truths is just as bleak as every other news item about health care these days, starting with the fact that a primary care doctor—"someone to coordinate your health care, help choose your specialists and be the first to diagnose just about any problem"—is getting harder to find, and fewer med students are showing any interest in the (comparatively) low-paying profession: "the number of primary-care internal medicine residency positions dropped by more than 50% in the past decade." More »
"U.S. taxpayers and Medicare patients could have saved almost $15 billion in 2007 if private health insurers had cut expenses for prescription drug coverage and negotiated bigger discounts," according to a newly released (Democratic) government report. [Reuters]
Poverty Makes You Healthier!
The decreased caloric intake and increase in non-motorized modes of transportation following Cuba's economic crisis from 1989-2000 lead to a decrease in heart disease and diabetes, a University of Michigan study finds.
The decreased caloric intake and increase in non-motorized modes of transportation following Cuba's economic crisis from 1989-2000 lead to a decrease in heart disease and diabetes, a University of Michigan study finds.
health care
AARP Can Double Costs For Seniors
The L.A. Times is reporting that AARP products are not always the best deal for senior citizens. The American Association of Retired Persons is susceptible to a profit motive; $400 million - 40%, of their annual budget - is generated from "royalties and service provider relationship management fees" gleaned from products, such as Medigap insurance, sold to its 38 million members. More »
bad news
Medical Records Are The New Credit Score?
Just like an error on your credit report can affect your score, an error on your medical records can have an impact when you're applying for insurance, according to the Wall Street Journal. More »
privacy
Proposed Legislation In Ohio Would Require Women To Get A Man's Permission To Have An Abortion
New proposed legislation in Ohio would make it illegal for a woman to get an abortion without a man's permission, according to the Record-Courier. More »
health care
Cuomo Threatens Insurance Company Over Plans To Rank Doctors By Cost
New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo told UnitedHealthcare to expect a lawsuit if they publish a ranking of doctors based on the cost of care to the insurer. UnitedHealthcare caused a furor in Missouri after introducing a similar ranking scheme in 2005.Missouri doctors cited numerous objections to the pilot program, which was halted and is being redesigned. For example, most faculty members of the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis were initially excluded from the quality rankings because university-based care is generally more expensive. Doctors in major specialties were ranked by cost alone.More »
