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Category Archives: Health Care

Health Exchange: Are consumers getting gouged on health care?

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This is the second installment in a four-part series.

LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) -- Look around the health-care world, and the almighty dollar can rear its head just about anywhere.

Its often seen in the balance sheets of biopharmaceutical giants, where net margins are double or even triple that of a normal, healthy corporation. Finance gets injected into the medical system when doctors are able to charge triple what Medicares fees are by staying out of public health programs and keeping their true expenses under wraps.

And rapidly expanding hospital chains, with newfound market power, pile on administrative expenses when a patient comes in for a simple procedure, turning a $200 echocardiogram into a $2,000 ordeal.

Based on its pricing, Health-care spending looks more like a luxury good than a necessary good, said Dr. Peter Bach, director of the Center for Health Policy and Outcomes at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City.

Are Americans being gouged for their medical care?

Its a given that the U.S. health-care system doesnt behave like a normal free-market entity. Reluctance on the part of consumers to put a price on their own health care coupled with the relatively intimate relationship between the provider/doctor and the customer/patient has put the sector in its own category on the economic landscape.

(Read Why your medical bills will just keep growing.)

Mix in the fact that for the bulk of Americans, most of the bill paying is made painless by insurers. Thats resulted in very little pushback on prices, at least on consumers part, for decades.

What it all means is that few restraints have been put on the health-care sector, which has metastasized into a $3 trillion annual business that consumes 18% of gross domestic product. For many, pricing doesnt matter, and so many in the system have free rein to charge what they want.

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Health Exchange: Are consumers getting gouged on health care?

Are consumers getting gouged on health care?

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LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) -- Look around the health-care world, and the almighty dollar can rear its head just about anywhere.

Its often seen in the balance sheets of biopharmaceutical giants, where net margins are double or even triple that of a normal, healthy corporation. Finance gets injected into the medical system when doctors are able to charge triple what Medicares fees are by staying out of public health programs and keeping their true expenses under wraps.

And rapidly expanding hospital chains, with newfound market power, pile on administrative expenses when a patient comes in for a simple procedure, turning a $200 echocardiogram into a $2,000 ordeal.

Based on its pricing, Health-care spending looks more like a luxury good than a necessary good, said Dr. Peter Bach, director of the Center for Health Policy and Outcomes at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City.

Are Americans being gouged for their medical care?

Its a given that the U.S. health-care system doesnt behave like a normal free-market entity. Reluctance on the part of consumers to put a price on their own health care coupled with the relatively intimate relationship between the provider/doctor and the customer/patient has put the sector in its own category on the economic landscape.

(Read .)

Mix in the fact that for the bulk of Americans, most of the bill paying is made painless by insurers. Thats resulted in very little pushback on prices, at least on consumers part, for decades.

What it all means is that few restraints have been put on the health-care sector, which has metastasized into a $3 trillion annual business that consumes 18% of gross domestic product. For many, pricing doesnt matter, and so many in the system have free rein to charge what they want.

Tom Latkovic, who oversees the health-care practice at consultancy McKinsey & Co., says that while some say cost growth has come down, it still is growing, and hasnt been enough to make a difference. And yet the quality of health outcomes hasnt risen in tandem with costs.

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Are consumers getting gouged on health care?

Health care leads a healthy day on Wall Street

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Investors remained in a record-setting mood Tuesday, edging the Dow Jones industrial average and Standard & Poor's 500 index to their latest all-time highs.

Pharmaceutical and medical equipment companies led the broad pickup in stocks, extending gains for the S&P 500 and Dow. The Nasdaq notched its first gain this week.

A positive outlook from homebuilders and encouraging news from Japan and Germany also helped lift markets.

The major stock indexes opened flat on Monday, but quickly began to rise and continued to build on their gains throughout the day as investors piled into health care stocks. Pharmaceutical giant Actavis (ACT) led all stocks in the S&P 500, vaulting 8.7 percent. Medical device maker Medtronic (MDT) climbed 3.3 percent.

The energy sector lagged the rest of the market as the price of oil resumed its slide.

All told, the S&P 500 index added 10.48 points, or 0.5 percent, to close at 2,051.80. Its previous closing high was set Monday.

The Dow rose 40.07 points, or 0.2 percent, ending at 17,687.82. That's just 0.2 percent higher than its most recent record close last Thursday.

The Nasdaq composite gained 31.44 points, or 0.7 percent, to finish at 4,702.44.

Nine of the 10 sectors in the S&P 500 notched gains, led by health care stocks. The sector is up 23.5 percent this year. Telecommunications stocks declined.

The rally builds on a market rebound in recent weeks powered by strong corporate earnings and easing concerns among investors about the spread of Ebola and economic growth overseas.

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Health care leads a healthy day on Wall Street

PARS and Turuki Health Care announce collaboration

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Auckland-based PARS (People at Risk Solutions) have partnered with the Turuki Health Care Trust, to offer improved healthcare services to those in need. PARS works closely with former prisoners, providing mentoring, housing, and social services to ensure they have the necessary support and skills to successfully reintegrate into society.

For many who have been incarcerated, returning to society is extremely challenging. Many are stigmatised or dont have adequate support in place to help them readjust to daily life, meaning the risk of reoffence is high.

Reconizing that they share both values and clients, PARS and charitable organisation Turuki Health Care are now developing a health and wellness service, focusing primarily on Maori and Pasifika clients who have recently been released from prison. Having signed a memorandum of understanding, the alliance between the two organisations will allow former prisoners to access a comprehensive range of primary health care and social services more effectively.

As an all-round care service, Turuki Health Care and PARS will address issues including physical health, mental health and substance abuse, and solutions offered will include use of whanau, community, employment and housing resources. Easily accessible health and social services to those at risk will provide an easier transition into life outside prison, improved whanau relationships and greater prospects of contributing positively to their communities.

"Were excited about the prospect of this collaboration," says Tui Ah Loo, Executive Director of PARS. "Targeted services and support, offered both prior to and following a prisoners release, will improve both the health and social outcomes for former prisoners and their whanau."

Both organisations are committed to a kaupapa Maori and whanau-centred approach, with a focus on hauora (holistic wellbeing). This ensures whanau can access multiple services from one central hub, the staff of whom are familiar and understanding of their needs and values. A single operational culture that provides easily accessible services will help to remove barriers to whanau engaging with and seeking support.

Both PARS and Turuki Health Care are currently offering peer support and training, and building opportunities for their staff to network together. The next developments will see PARS and Turuki Health Care expanding their scope. Currently based in South Auckland, Turuki will eventually extend their integrated services to the wider Auckland community, including those accessing PARS services in Mt Eden.

Collective impact approaches to dealing with social issues are becoming much more common in the not-for-profit sector, and many organisations are now teaming up to share resources, services and ideas. Recognising that a collaborative approach is often hugely beneficial for those in need of support, PARS are looking forward to building and maintaining high quality relationships with Turuki Health and other, similar organisations.

An ongoing relationship will allow the two organisations to develop mutually beneficial projects, providing quality services to clients in need of support. In many cases, PARS works with people affected by issues that would benefit from a joint advocacy approach, which addresses both their social and health needs. "To improve the health of our clients, we must address the big picture, the systemic issues that impact on them," says Te Puea Winiata, Turuki Health Care CEO. "A whanau-centred approach will provide opportunities for wellbeing and healing, and will also support the children and whanau of those involved. Together, we will become innovators in whanau intervention, breaking down the barriers to accessing services and offering support services to whanau."

Similar programmes were piloted in Dunedin previously led by Dr Susie Lawless, and this work has offered Pars and Turuki an opportunity to learn from what was successful. "The heart was there, but one of the findings was that Maori engagement in post release health services could have been improved with interventions being delivered by Maori GPs in culturally appropriate settings.," explains Tui. A kaupapa Maori approach, and collaboration with Turuki Health Care, who are already known and trusted by their clients, means this venture is far more likely to be successful. "Maori will engage with us because we are them and they are us," says Tui.

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PARS and Turuki Health Care announce collaboration

Businesses That Support Health Care Innovation Education: Walking the Talk – Video

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Businesses That Support Health Care Innovation Education: Walking the Talk
Our article, Bridging Health Care #39;s Innovation Gap, was published today at Harvard Business Review #39;s Insight Center, https://hbr.org/2014/11/bridging-health-...

By: GENiE Innovation

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Businesses That Support Health Care Innovation Education: Walking the Talk - Video

Summer Health Care-The Disadvantages of Dried Fruit -Dr. Shehla Aggarwal(Dermatologist) – Video

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Summer Health Care-The Disadvantages of Dried Fruit -Dr. Shehla Aggarwal(Dermatologist)
http://www.pragyatv.com/ To get wellness updates and advise subscribe to PragyaWellnessTV: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=PragyaWellnessTV ...

By: Pragya T

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Summer Health Care-The Disadvantages of Dried Fruit -Dr. Shehla Aggarwal(Dermatologist) - Video

Health care insurance enrollent running smoothly at Halifax

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Published: Sunday, November 16, 2014 at 4:55 p.m. Last Modified: Monday, November 17, 2014 at 6:04 a.m.

DAYTONA BEACH Scott Stephan has been uninsured his entire life, but the 34-year-old Daytona Beach native finally changed that Sunday morning.

More than 100 other people also enrolled in health insurance plans Sunday many for the first time. A coalition of groups including the nonprofit Enroll America, Halifax Health Medical Center of Daytona Beach and the Health Planning Council of Northeast Florida held one of the first enrollment events in the area for the second year of the Affordable Care Act.

This is my first year (having insurance), said Stephan. I just needed it. Ive got cancer and Im trying to get it all taken care of. Its just skin cancer, its nothing big, but like, to get the surgery, no one will help unless you have insurance.

The second annual open enrollment window for people to get health insurance under the presidents health care law opened Saturday.

The wonderful thing is Halifax hospital has opened up its doors and were going to staff the hospital from now until the end of enrollment, said Mincy Pollock, of the First Coast Multi-Lines Agency, a Jacksonville-based insurance brokerage and one of the partners in Sundays event.

The hospital was more than happy to join the effort, said Bob Williams, executive director of business development with Halifax, especially because having more people covered reduces the amount of uncompensated care the hospital off Clyde Morris Boulevard has to provide.

Many people who dont have coverage dont get the preventative care they need, so they show up in our emergency department already having a serious illness that could have, frankly, been prevented. That becomes a burden on the community, he said. We will, this year, get about $8 million in tax money, but we will see over $43 million of uncompensated treatment having to be delivered.

The governments online health care marketplace, Healthcare.gov, is now apparently running much smoother than it did in the laws inaugural year.

Its been phenomenal. Last year, the first time I (enrolled somebody) it took about four hours, said Gabriel Timmons Sr. of Jacksonville, a navigator at the event. Now, normally ... its going to take maybe 30 to 45 minutes to process somebody.

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Health care insurance enrollent running smoothly at Halifax

Health Exchange: Why your medical bills will just keep growing

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This is the first installment in a four-part series.

LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) -- A new era in health care is upon us, and Denise Atkinson is a little nervous about how its all going to turn out.

Going to the doctor used to be simpler for Atkinson, a resident of Williamstown, N.J., and the mother of two small children. She and her husbandboth in their 30swould see premiums taken out of their checks, and dole out an occasional copay for a doctor visit.

Those days are gone. Atkinson now has some skin in the game: The Cigna Corp. CI, +0.51% policy the family gets through her husbands job has a $3,600 annual deductible. She says thats ultimately a cheaper alternative, because the premiums are smaller, but now theres a more direct financial connection between her and her medical care.

Financial decision-making and planning around health care now permeates all facets of her life, even factoring into the decision of whether to have a third child. If her pregnancy should start toward the end of one year and conclude the next, for example, her pregnancy alone could cost her $7,200two years worth of the deductible. Its the kind of awareness she didnt have before.

You pay for every little thing that happens. Where it used to be that on an HMO plan, you had an [emergency room] visit, and youd kick in $100 for your ER visit and you didnt know all the behind-the-scenes costs, Atkinson said. And now, youre getting hit with all of it.

***

Your fathers health-care system is dissipating. Soaring costs are forcing an increasing number of workers throughout the U.S. to adopt a consumer mentality when it comes to medical treatment. Planning for health-care expenses in much the same vein as setting aside money for vacations is becoming more acceptable, and more necessary.

But are Americans ready to do that, and do consumers like Atkinson have the tools they need? As the country enters its second year under the Affordable Care Act, debates about the triumphs and failures of Obamacare have dominated the public discussion of health care. But growing ranks of doctors, economists and health-industry analysts agree that those debates tend to ignore a much more serious challenge: The systems inability to get medical costs under control.

In this four-part series, MarketWatch looks at the continuing strugglea losing battle so farwith the medical inflation that continues to outpace the rest of the economy and threatens to consume the lions share of U.S. spending. And well examine the ways that those spiraling costs create ever-growing challenges even for relatively affluent consumers.

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Health Exchange: Why your medical bills will just keep growing

Podcast: A health care checkup

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Transcript

(OPEN)

From Bankrate.com, this is "Your Money This Week."

I'm Mark Hamrick in Washington.

Away from the politically-charged debate about the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, is a program that's helping millions of Americans get access to health care. We know that Republicans are pledging to try to make changes to the program, and the Obama Administration has said it is open to trying to improve it.

In the meantime, a new enrollment season has begun, presenting consumers an opportunity to buy or change coverage.

Bankrate's insurance expert, Doug Whiteman, will join us for an update.

Do you have a health savings account? An increasing number of employers are offering them. We'll hear from Kevin Crane with Bank of America Merrill Lynch about this new savings vehicle, which can reduce your tax bill.

Bankrate's Amanda Rowe tells us that companies are really getting creative when it comes to offering perks to their employees.

And we'll take a look back at business history, with the introduction of a new digital gadget.

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Podcast: A health care checkup

Mediation talks between health care unions, province fail

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There will be no mediated deal between the provincial government and Nova Scotias four health care unions.

The two sides have been in talks for the last 45 days with British Columbia-based mediator James Dorsey. Dorsey, who has made multiple trips to Nova Scotia for the process, returned home on Thursday and the mediation clock will run out as of midnight, said one union source, speaking on condition on anonymity because leaders agreed to a media blackout.

The mediation process was part of parameters laid out in Bill 1, the Liberal governments centrepiece legislation of the autumn sitting, that will merge nine district health authorities into one as of April 1. To facilitate that and to reduce the number of contracts to be negotiated and ending what the health minister has called an ongoing cycle of bargaining Bill 1 included a clause that each of the four unions could only represent one classification of worker.

A proposal from the four unions to work in bargaining associations in reaching agreements was rejected by the province. Health and Wellness Minister Leo Glavine said at the time that the proposal would still have too many people at the table and wouldnt do enough to reduce the number of contracts being negotiated.

Despite protests from the Canadian Union of Public Employees, the Nova Scotia Government & General Employees Union, the Nova Scotia Nurses Union and Unifor, the Grits passed the legislation with the support of the Progressive Conservatives in early October. That triggered the 45-day clock for mediation. With the clock set to expire, a 45-day arbitration period will begin as of midnight on Tuesday.

Dorsey will now be tasked with determining which union gets assigned to each of the four classifications: nurses, health care, clerical and service.

A union source characterized talks so far as extremely tough, in no small part because of how much the NSGEU stands to lose. Nova Scotias largest union will lose upwards of 9,000 members through this process, including its nurses. Bill 1 stipulates each union must have a history of representing the groups it will represent in the future. This means the nurses union must get nurses, a move that will result in a windfall of thousands of new members.

Unifor, because it only represents workers in the health care and service classifications, is a lock to get service, where it has the larger percentage of members.

The real question is what happens with the health care and clerical classifications. Based on numbers released by the Health Association of Nova Scotia, it would seem that NSGEU could get clerical, based on it representing two-thirds of the workers in that classification. If that comes to pass, CUPE would take health care and with it gain thousands of members, more than making up for the people it would lose in other categories.

Union sources on Monday had high praise for Dorseys work throughout the process hes the best in the business, said one source but the consensus was that the governments parameters removed any wiggle room for Dorsey to find an arrangement that would be palatable to everyone.

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Mediation talks between health care unions, province fail


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