Opinion

Alf Landon, 1936 Republican candidate for president, attacked Social Security as a philosophical and economic disaster.Courtesy photo

September 09, 2012 2:00 AM

The debate over national health care dubbed "ObamaCare" has been going on for many years. After the bill was placed into law, the Supreme Court was asked to make a decision whether or not the law was constitutional. If one looks back in history to 1935, when the Social Security Act was being debated during a presidential election, one can clearly see the similarities.

Alf Landon, the 1936 Republican candidate for president, spoke of problems we are hearing today. Landon made what he called "the bungling and waste" of Social Security the key to his presidential campaign, and his opposition to Social Security, along with the arguments President Franklin Roosevelt voiced in defending Social Security against Landon, offers a history lesson that deserves our attention.

Alf Landon's speech attacked Social Security, which was due to begin collecting contributions on Jan. 1, 1937, as a philosophical and economic disaster. He stated: "This law is unjust, unworkable, stupidly drafted and wastefully financed."

This does sound like the Republican arguments of the 2012 election.

Landon argued that Social Security was "paternal government," at its worst. "It assumes that Americans are irresponsible. It assumes that old-age pensions are necessary because Americans lack the foresight to provide for their old age." The contribution Social Security required from the employer, Landon argued, was sure to be "imposed" on the consumer, while the contribution Social Security required from the worker was too much for him to bear.

History is an interesting thing to read and understand. If one would change Alf Landon's name to Mitt Romney, or most of the Republican leadership, the text would have the same concepts.

Landon went on to state that, "As if that were not enough, the "vast army of clerks" required to administer Social Security, would create a bloated bureaucracy that would be a "cruel hoax" on American workers. There was, he predicted, "every probability that the cash they pay in will be used for current deficits and new extravagances," and in the end impoverishes the system. "If the present compulsory insurance plan remains in force, our old people are only too apt to find the cupboard bare."

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Those who ignore history vote for GOP

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Simple Treatments, Ignored

Infowars.com Saturday 8th September, 2012

The Thai government says it plans to offer free health care for children under six, including vaccinations that can cost more than $30. The proposal applies to children of migrant workers, many of whom struggle to pay for doctors visits. But judging by similar policies in the past, the new health care law may take a long time to come into effect. Al Jazeeras Wayne Hay reports from Mahachai, Thailand.

Read the full story at Infowars.com

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Thailand Proposes Free Health Care for Kids

WASHINGTON (AP) The U.S. health care system squanders $750 billion a year roughly 30 cents of every medical dollar through unneeded care, byzantine paperwork, fraud and other waste, the influential Institute of Medicine said Thursday in a report that ties directly into the presidential campaign.

President Barack Obama and Republican Mitt Romney are accusing each other of trying to slash Medicare and put seniors at risk. But the counter-intuitive finding from the report is that deep cuts are possible without rationing, and a leaner system may even produce better quality.

Health care in America presents a fundamental paradox, said the report from an 18-member panel of prominent experts, including doctors, business people, and public officials. The past 50 years have seen an explosion in biomedical knowledge, dramatic innovation in therapies and surgical procedures, and management of conditions that previously were fatal ...

Yet, American health care is falling short on basic dimensions of quality, outcomes, costs and equity, the report concluded.

If banking worked like health care, ATM transactions would take days, the report said. If home building were like health care, carpenters, electricians and plumbers would work from different blueprints and hardly talk to each other. If shopping were like health care, prices would not be posted and could vary widely within the same store, depending on who was paying.

If airline travel were like health care, individual pilots would be free to design their own preflight safety checks or not perform one at all.

How much is $750 billion? The one-year estimate of health care waste is equal to more than ten years of Medicare cuts in Obamas health care law. Its more than the Pentagon budget. Its more than enough to care for the uninsured.

Getting health care costs better controlled is one of the keys to reducing the deficit, the biggest domestic challenge facing the next president. The report did not lay out a policy prescription for Medicare and Medicaid but suggested theres plenty of room for lawmakers to find a path.

Both Obama and Romney agree there has to be a limit to Medicare spending, but they differ on how to get that done. Obama would rely on a powerful board to cut payments to service providers, while gradually changing how hospitals and doctors are paid to reward results instead of volume. Romney would limit the amount of money future retirees can get from the government for medical insurance, relying on the private market to find an efficient solution. Each accuses of the other of jeopardizing the well-being of seniors.

But panel members urged a frank discussion with the public about the value Americans are getting for their health care dollars. As a model, they cited Choosing Wisely, a campaign launched earlier this year by nine medical societies to challenge the widespread perception that more care is better.

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Report: US health care system wastes $750B a year - Boston.com

06-09-2012 12:11 The Washington Post's resident fact checker Glenn Kessler looks at Vice President Joe Biden's claims that Paul Ryan's health care plan would cost seniors an additional $6400.

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Health care's $6400 question -- Fast Fact Check - Video

06-09-2012 12:29 San Antonio, Texas resident Allison Donatto-Helton is facing a mountain of hospital and medical bills and is having a hard time finding affordable health care and health insurance.

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America's Voices: "My biggest concern is health care" - Video

DSNAP sites announced for St. Charles, Tangipahoa residents DSNAP sites announced for St. Charles, Tangipahoa residents The new application sites will open Sunday, Sept. 9.more>> The new application sites will open Sunday, Sept. 9.more>> West Nile deaths jump to 10 in Louisiana West Nile deaths jump to 10 in Louisiana There are31 newcases of West Nile virus, bringing the total number of infections in the state to176.

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"To minimize wait times, applicants and anyone who pre-applied for benefits should go to a DSNAP location only on the day indicated by the first letter of their last name. Applicants who are unable to visit a site on their designated day can go on the final two days each site is open."

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - The LSU Board of Supervisors is poised to start a search for private investors and health care companies who might be interested in running some of the university's hospitals, as the Jindal administration pushes for governance changes.

The board on Friday is considering a proposal to solicit ideas for private partnerships for its public hospitals in Shreveport, Monroe and Pineville.

LSU leaders are looking for ways to cut costs at the university-run hospitals and network of clinics after Gov. Bobby Jindal stripped a quarter of the health care system's funding. Jindal has said LSU must change its model of providing services.

The university is considering whether to sell or lease some of its facilities to private health care companies, in arrangements that could still allow for the medical training programs.

(Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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LSU looking for private health care partnerships

By Jeff Hansel The Post-Bulletin, Rochester MN

Mayo Clinic Health System in 2012 celebrates two decades of providing health care to communities throughout the region.

Twenty years ago, Mayo Clinic in Rochester was the sole spot to get "the Mayo model of care."

But things have changed,

Today, most southeast Minnesotans have direct access to Mayo-level care within a short walk or drive, often right in their own communities andMayo Clinic Health System has become a prime point of entry into the Mayo Clinic system as a whole for patients regionwide.

"Boy I'm thankful for those leaders, that they had that foresight," said Adam Rees, chief administrative officer of Mayo Clinic Health System in Austin.

Mayo Clinic Health System has also become a powerhouse-within-a-powerhouse for Mayo Clinic as it contributes about half of the $8.4 billion non-profit organization's patients yearly.

In 2011, more than 500,000 of Mayo's total 1.1 million patients nationally got their care at Health System clinics and hospitals.

Greater public awareness became a goal as clinic leaders decided each facility should publicly display the name "Mayo Clinic Health System" on walls and signs.

The seemingly small change from the previous "Mayo Health System" name, backed by a marketing campaign, has indeed raised awareness, helping locals to drop the "Austin Medical Center" mindset, for example, in favor of "Mayo Clinic Health System (in Austin)."

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Mayo Clinic Health System celebrating two decades of care

Newswise As many as a quarter of Medicare recipients spend more than the total value of their assets on out-of-pocket health care expenses during the last five years of their lives, according to researchers at Mount Sinai School of Medicine. They found that 43 percent of Medicare recipients spend more than their total assets minus the value of their primary residences. The findings appear online in the current issue of the Journal of General Internal Medicine.

The amount of spending varied with the patients illness. Those with dementia or Alzheimers disease spent the most for health care, averaging $66,155, or more than twice that of patients with gastrointestinal disease or cancer, who spent an average of $31,069. Dementia patients often require special living arrangements, which accounts for the sizeable difference in cost.

Medicare provides a significant amount of health care coverage to people over 65, but it does not cover co-payments, deductibles, homecare services, or non-rehabilitative nursing home care, said the studys lead author, Amy S. Kelley, MD, Assistant Professor of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine at Mount Sinai School of Medicine. I think a lot of people will be surprised by how high these out-of-pocket costs are in the last years of life.

The researchers based their findings on 2002-2008 data that was collected from the Health and Retirement Study, a biennial survey of 26,000 Americans over the age of 50, which is supported by the National Institute on Aging, and the Social Security Administration. They examined 3,209 Medicare recipients during their last five years of life, and compared their out-of-pocket health care expenditures with their total household assets. The study found that the average spending for all participants was $38,688, with more than 75 percent of households spending at least $10,000. The top quarter of participants spent an average of $101,791.

There are a number of schools of thought on how to rein in Medicare costs, including requiring larger financial contributions from the elderly, said Dr. Kelley. Prior to this study there was not a lot of data on the extent of out-of-pocket spending. This information can serve as an important tool to help individuals set realistic expectations for end-of-life health care costs, and for government officials to use in discussing Medicare policies.

This study was funded by the National Institute on Aging. Dr. Kelley also receives funding from the Hartford Foundation. Researchers from University of California Los Angeles Department of Economics, Dartmouth College Department of Economics, and The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice also contributed to this study.

About The Mount Sinai Medical Center

The Mount Sinai Medical Center encompasses both The Mount Sinai Hospital and Mount Sinai School of Medicine. Established in 1968, Mount Sinai School of Medicine is one of the leading medical schools in the United States. The Medical School is noted for innovation in education, biomedical research, clinical care delivery, and local and global community service. It has more than 3,400 faculty in 32 departments and 14 research institutes, and ranks among the top 20 medical schools both in National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding and by U.S. News & World Report.

The Mount Sinai Hospital, founded in 1852, is a 1,171-bed tertiary- and quaternary-care teaching facility and one of the nations oldest, largest and most-respected voluntary hospitals. In 2012, U.S. News & World Report ranked The Mount Sinai Hospital 14th on its elite Honor Roll of the nations top hospitals based on reputation, safety, and other patient-care factors. Mount Sinai is one of 12 integrated academic medical centers whose medical school ranks among the top 20 in NIH funding and by U.S. News & World Report and whose hospital is on the U.S. News & World Report Honor Roll. Nearly 60,000 people were treated at Mount Sinai as inpatients last year, and approximately 560,000 outpatient visits took place.

For more information, visit http://www.mountsinai.org/. Find Mount Sinai on: Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/mountsinainyc Twitter @mountsinainyc YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/mountsinainy

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Health Care Spending in Last Five Years of Life Exceeds Total Assets for One Quarter of Medicare Population

THURSDAY, Sept. 6 (HealthDay News) -- About 30 percent of health spending in the United States in 2009 -- about $750 billion -- was wasted on unnecessary services, excessive administration costs, fraud and other problems, a government advisory panel said Thursday.

The report from the Institute of Medicine urges that changes be made to the United States' health care system to reduce costs and improve care.

Institute of Medicine experts added, however, that inefficiency, a vast amount of data and other economic and quality issues obstruct efforts to improve health and threaten the nation's economic stability and global competitiveness, the document warned.

Numerous inefficiencies caused needless suffering. One estimate indicates that about 75,000 deaths might have been prevented in 2005 if every state had delivered health care at the level of the best-performing state.

Gradual upgrades and changes by individual hospitals or health care providers are inadequate to solve the problems, the report committee said.

"Achieving higher-quality care at lower cost will require an across-the-board commitment to transform the U.S. health system into a 'learning' system that continuously improves by systematically capturing and broadly disseminating lessons from every care experience and new research discovery," according to an Institute of Medicine news release.

Solutions include greater use of electronic health records, promoting patient and family involvement in health care decision-making, and quicker adoption of medical breakthroughs.

"It will necessitate embracing new technologies to collect and tap clinical data at the point of care, engaging patients and their families as partners, and establishing greater teamwork and transparency within health care organizations," according to the news release. "Also, incentives and payment systems should emphasize the value and outcomes of care."

The nation has the knowledge and tools to improve the health system so it can provide better quality care at lower cost, the report authors said.

"The threats to Americans' health and economic security are clear and compelling, and it's time to get all hands on deck," report committee chairman Mark Smith, president and CEO of California HealthCare Foundation, said in the news release.

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U.S. Health Care System Wastes $750B Annually, Report Finds

Public release date: 8-Sep-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Jeanne Bernard Jeanne.Bernard@mountsinai.org 212-241-9200 The Mount Sinai Hospital / Mount Sinai School of Medicine

As many as a quarter of Medicare recipients spend more than the total value of their assets on out-of-pocket health care expenses during the last five years of their lives, according to researchers at Mount Sinai School of Medicine. They found that 43 percent of Medicare recipients spend more than their total assets minus the value of their primary residences. The findings appear online in the current issue of the Journal of General Internal Medicine.

The amount of spending varied with the patient's illness. Those with dementia or Alzheimer's disease spent the most for health care, averaging $66,155, or more than twice that of patients with gastrointestinal disease or cancer, who spent an average of $31,069. Dementia patients often require special living arrangements, which accounts for the sizeable difference in cost.

"Medicare provides a significant amount of health care coverage to people over 65, but it does not cover co-payments, deductibles, homecare services, or non-rehabilitative nursing home care," said the study's lead author, Amy S. Kelley, MD, Assistant Professor of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine at Mount Sinai School of Medicine. "I think a lot of people will be surprised by how high these out-of-pocket costs are in the last years of life."

The researchers based their findings on 2002-2008 data that was collected from the Health and Retirement Study, a biennial survey of 26,000 Americans over the age of 50, which is supported by the National Institute on Aging, and the Social Security Administration. They examined 3,209 Medicare recipients during their last five years of life, and compared their out-of-pocket health care expenditures with their total household assets. The study found that the average spending for all participants was $38,688, with more than 75 percent of households spending at least $10,000. The top quarter of participants spent an average of $101,791.

"There are a number of schools of thought on how to rein in Medicare costs, including requiring larger financial contributions from the elderly," said Dr. Kelley. "Prior to this study there was not a lot of data on the extent of out-of-pocket spending. This information can serve as an important tool to help individuals set realistic expectations for end-of-life health care costs, and for government officials to use in discussing Medicare policies."

###

This study was funded by the National Institute on Aging. Dr. Kelley also receives funding from the Hartford Foundation. Researchers from University of California Los Angeles Department of Economics, Dartmouth College Department of Economics, and The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice also contributed to this study.

About The Mount Sinai Medical Center

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Health-care costs at end of life exceed total assets for 25 percent of Medicare population

06-09-2012 22:42 President Barack Obama's complete speech from the 2012 Democratic National Convention. Join the conversation on Facebook Add TDC to your circles on Google+ Follow The Daily Conversation on Twitter Keywords: TDC TheDailyConversation The Daily Conversation President Barack Obama Democratic National Convention 2012 Speech DNC BO Pres Democrat Republican Politics News Talk "Barack Obama (US President)" Michelle First Lady POTUS Democrats Republicans GOP Election Inspiring Epic Amazing Great Good HD High Quality High Definition Complete Full White House Economy Elect Vote USA United States America American Bill Clinton Hillary Mitt Romney Campaign Debate TDC The Daily Conversation TheDailyConversation Paul Ryan Tax Vice Joe Biden Debt Deficit Spending Medicare Health Care Obamacare Taxes Win North Carolina Virginia Iowa Colorado New Mexico Swing State States Advertising Ads

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President Obama's Full Speech 2012 DNC - Video

America spent $2.6 trillion on health care last year; about one in every six dollars went into the health-care system. A third of that spending a full $750 billion did nothing to make anyone healthier. Read full article >>

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We spend $750 billion on unnecessary health care. Two charts explain why.

A Brody School of Medicine professor has co-authored a report issued Thursday that calls Americas health care system too complex and costly, posing a threat to the nations economic stability and global competitiveness.

The report, Best Care at Lower Cost: The Path to Continuously Learning Health Care in America, comes from a committee of the Institute of Medicine and focuses on how the inefficiencies created by an overwhelming amount of data and other economic and quality barriers hinder progress in improving health. The good news is that tools exist to put the health system on the right course to achieve improvement and better quality care at lower cost, committee members said.

We Americans can all get much better results from the health care we receive and pay for, said Dr. T. Bruce Ferguson, professor of cardiovascular sciences at the Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University and an IOM committee member. The IOM is the health-care arm of the National Academy of Sciences.

The report tries to construct a road map from where the health care system and its users are substantially constrained by unsustainable costs and quality shortfalls to a place where better health care is delivered and received. The vehicle is a system of continuous improvement driven by the commitment of all its participants.

Were trying to expand what weve learned within pocket areas of improvement and apply them to the entire health care system to produce better value and less costs for every person in the system who requires health care, Ferguson said.

The costs of the systems inefficiency underscore the urgent need for a systemwide transformation.

The committee calculated that about 30 percent of health spending in 2009 roughly $750 billion was wasted on unnecessary services, excessive administrative costs, fraud, and other problems. Moreover, inefficiencies cause needless suffering, they said. By one estimate, roughly 75,000 deaths might have been prevented in 2005 if every state had delivered care at the quality level of the best performing state.

The committee identified tools and assets in todays health care environment, some that did not exist as recently as five years ago, and areas where the tools must be applied.

One is an enormous computing power that now allows access to information with connectivity almost anywhere in real time.

When I was a medical student, I had to go to the library to look up articles in journals and photocopy them, Ferguson said. A medical student at Brody logs on to the Internet and accesses hundreds of times more information than I was able to gather.

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Health care too costly, complex

HOUSTON, TX--(Marketwire - Sep 6, 2012) - University General Health System, Inc. ( OTCQB : UGHS ), a diversified, integrated multi-specialty health care delivery system, today announced the execution of an agreement between its wholly-owned subsidiary, Sybaris Group, Inc., and Rice University Athletics, whereby Sybaris has been selected as the official catering company for Rice Athletics.

"We are very pleased that our Support Services subsidiary, Sybaris Group, has been named the official caterer for the Athletics Department of such a respected and historic institution of higher learning as Rice University," stated Hassan Chahadeh, MD, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of University General Health System, Inc. "Sybaris Group has been aggressively expanding its business model, and the outstanding food service provided by Sybaris is consistent with our commitment to the highest level of patient care throughout our expanding health care delivery system. Our relationship with Rice University will allow us to leverage the operating infrastructure that Sybaris has developed in the Houston metropolitan area."

About University General Health System, Inc.

University General Health System, Inc. is a diversified, integrated multi-specialty health care provider that delivers concierge physician and patient-oriented services by providing timely, innovative health solutions that are uniquely competitive, efficient, and adaptive in today's health care delivery environment. The Company currently operates one hospital, two ambulatory surgical centers, two diagnostic imaging centers, three physical therapy clinics, a sleep clinic, and a Hyperbaric Wound Care Center in the Houston area. Also, University General owns three senior living facilities, manages six senior living facilities, and owns a Support Services company that provides revenue cycle and luxury facilities management services.

Forward-Looking Statements

The information in this news release includes certain forward-looking statements that are based upon assumptions that in the future may prove not to have been accurate and are subject to significant risks and uncertainties, including statements related to the future financial performance of the Company. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations or any of its forward-looking statements will prove to be correct. Factors that could cause results to differ include, but are not limited to, successful execution of growth strategies, product development and acceptance, the impact of competitive services and pricing, general economic conditions, and other risks and uncertainties described in the Company's Form 10-K, Form 10-Q and other periodic filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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University General Health System Announces Agreement With Rice University Athletics

SALT LAKE CITY, Sept. 7, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Aarches Community Health Care today announced that Roberta Herzberg, Department Head, Political Science, Utah State University, was elected to Aarches Community Health Care's Board of Directors. Roberta also serves as Vice-chair and Member, Health Advisory Committee, Utah Health Department.

"Roberta is an expert on health policy and economics in Utah and we look forward to benefiting from her insights and experience as a member of Aarches Community Health Care Board," said Linn Baker, Aarches Community Health Care CEO. "Roberta will be our 11th board member, and I think she will add a new dimension to our already lively board discussions."

"Aarches is clearly on the forefront of aligning members and providers of care around coordination of care delivery and payment reform," said Roberta Herzberg, Department Head, Political Science, Utah State University. "I feel privileged to join this exciting and dynamic team and look forward to working closely with Linn and the board during the next phase of healthcare reform and the launch of Aarches Community Health Care.

At Utah State University, Roberta is responsible for managing a $1M budget, personnel, faculty development, curriculum and advising 400+ students across three majors. She has developed new programs, including one minor and an expansion of offerings in China. Roberta also represents the Utah State University in other units and in the broader community. She was formerly Member, Utah Medical Education Council, appointed by then Governor Leavitt and Commissioner, Utah Health Policy Commission, also appointed by then Governor Leavitt. Additionally Roberta was Chair, Utah SCHIP Benefits Committee.

Roberta is well published through the Journal of Economic Organization and Behavior, American Journal of Managed Care, Journal of Politics, Journal of Conflict Resolution and Western Political Quarterly.

About Aarches Community Health Care

Aarches Community Health Care is a Utah 501c non-profit corporation that received start-up and solvency funding under the Affordable Care Act's Consumer Operated and Oriented Plan (CO-OP) program (section 1322) to become a member-owned health plan covering all 29 counties of Utah. For more information, please visit http://www.AarchesHealth.org or call 866.207.8003.

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Roberta Herzberg Joins Aarches Community Health Care Board of Directors

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) -- Gov. Matt Mead announced Thursday that Wyoming won't meet a pending deadline under the federal health care reform law to specify whether the state intends to establish a health insurance exchange an online marketplace that would offer the public one-stop shopping for health insurance.

Mead told reporters at his regularly scheduled press conference that Wyoming can't decide the issue because he has yet to hear any response to a series of questions about the law he submitted to U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius in mid-July.

Among the questions Mead asked Sebelius was how long the federal government was committed to provide funding for the exchange. "If the federally facilitated exchange is not financially self-sustaining, what happens then?" he wrote.

"There are questions to be answered," Mead said Thursday. "And we haven't got answers to those questions. So if and until we get answers to those questions, I don't think it's reasonable for the federal government to say we've got to make very big decisions that can impact our state budget and impact the quality of our health delivery system in Wyoming."

The Affordable Care Act gives Wyoming and other states three possible choices on the insurance exchange issue: set up their own exchange, partner with other states, or let the federal government set up an exchange.

While the federal law gives states until January to specify how they will address the exchange issue, Mead said Wyoming likely won't make a decision until after the Legislature adjourns next year, likely in early March.

Mead, a longtime opponent of the Affordable Care Act, has said he's worried about the cost of increasing enrollment in the Medicaid program. Wyoming already has budgeted more than $500 million to cover its share of the Medicaid program in the two-year budget cycle that started in July. The federal government roughly matches that amount in the state to fund the program that provides health care for the poor.

There are now roughly 67,000 Wyoming residents on Medicaid. Mead has said he's concerned that the Affordable Care Act could expand the program to add as many as 30,000 more over coming years. He said he doesn't trust federal promises to pick up increased costs.

There are now roughly 67,000 Wyoming residents on Medicaid. Mead said the proposed federal expansion could add as many as 30,000 more over the next few years.

The Wyoming Department of Health on Thursday unveiled consultant reports estimating that the additional cost to Wyoming of expanding Medicaid to comply with the federal Affordable Care Act could range from $53 million to $310 million from 2014 to 2020.

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Gov. Mead: Wyoming will miss health law deadline

SALT LAKE CITY, Sept. 7, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Aarches Community Health Care is seeking like minded physicians who want to partner in providing value based care to their patients. This outreach is in response to a new study by Dr. Tait Shanafelt of the Mayo Clinic which reported nearly half of physicians showing signs of significant "burnout" and evidence of "depersonalization" leading these doctors to look at their patients as objects more than people. A clear problem leading to much needed reform in the health care plans for Utah.

Aarches Health's Medical Officer, Douglas Smith, MD, comments, "Our front line doctors in Utah are feeling the heavy weight placed on them by the broken Fee For Service reimbursement model of health care. Until we engage physicians and patients in a mutually beneficial relationship based on shared responsibility and robust non-volume based financial incentives we will continue down this insane path which is fracturing our front line health provider safety net."

This is where Aarches Health's plan for providing a Value Based Care model for Utah will help make a positive change to the Insurance and Health Care models currently in place.

"It's about aligning incentives between patient and doctor in search of the now elusive health care Win-Win partnership", notes Doug. Last September the Physician Wellness Services and Cejka Search conducted a survey reporting over 86% of US physicians were moderately to severely stressed or burned out on an average day with about two-thirds stating their stress had increased moderately to dramatically in the preceding three years with little organizational response to their plight. "We look to be a new health care model in the Utah market which will align incentives of the patient and physician which can empower physicians to practice the way they thought they would when leaving medical school."

Aarches welcomes engagement from all physicians, but especially primary care providers looking for a new model to care for their patients providing higher quality care, robust value based reimbursement, and heightened professional satisfaction. Aarches is currently in the process of finalizing their first list of providers.

Interested physicians and providers can email Dr. Smith for more information at ProviderRelations@aarcheshealth.org.

About Aarches Community Health CareAarches Community Health Care is a Utah 501c non-profit corporation that received start-up and solvency funding under the Affordable Care Act's Consumer Operated and Oriented Plan (CO-OP) program (section 1322) to become a member-owned health plan covering all 29 counties of Utah. For more information, please visit http://www.AarchesHealth.org or call 866.207.8003.

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Non Profit CO-OP Seeks to Improve Health Insurance by Signing up Health Care Providers and Reducing Physician Stress

NEWTON, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

In spite of the passage of health care reform legislation, health care costs will continue to increase for both plan sponsors and their employees, according to EBS Capstone, a Massachusetts based Member Firm of United Benefit Advisors (UBA), the nation's largest independent benefits advisory organization. Preliminary results released by UBA from its 2012 UBA Health Plan Survey with 17,905 plans from 11,711 employers -- and the only one of its kind to offer local benefits benchmarking capabilities -- show some startling trends in employer health plans.

One trend that stands out in this years survey shows that employer sponsored health plans experienced an increase of 5% compared to 8.2% last year. In addition, more PPO, Consumer Directed Health Plans (CDHP) and HMO plans required and/or increased employee deductibles in 2012. This trend towards cost shifting to employees continues.

Other key National and Massachusetts statistics from this years survey results:

As health care plan offerings and the federal regulatory environment become more complex, benchmarking data such as the 2012 UBA Health Plan Survey have become increasingly critical for employers looking to manage their health care benefit programs effectively.

The intent of the survey is to provide employers of all sizes with the data they need to manage their health care benefit programs effectively, says Tom McCormick, Senior Partner, EBS Capstone. Large employers will find the UBA Health Plan Survey provides more participants and data in their category than other industry survey. And for employers with fewer than 1,000 employees (which represents more than 99% of the employers in the U.S.) and for employers who have operations in multiple locations, this survey is the only source of reliable regional and in many cases, state health plan benchmarks by size and industry.

EBS Capstone can provide employers with a benchmarking report for their region, industry and size, so businesses can determine which types of plans are most popular in their area, which plans are being phased out, average employee costs and participation, and highly relevant pieces of information that can help them negotiate their rates and communicate their plan advantages to employees.

With more Member Firms located in virtually all US markets, UBA uniquely provides employers of all sizes the data they need to remain competitive in their local markets. The 2012 UBA Health Plan Survey wont be available to the public until Nov. 1. Employers can get inside access to the hundreds of thousands of pages of granular state, regional and industry data through a benchmarking report offered by EBS Capstone.

ABOUT THE 2012 UBA HEALTH PLAN SURVEY With responses from 17,905 health plans sponsored by 11,711 employers nationwide, the 2012 UBA Health Plan Survey is the nations largest and most comprehensive survey of plan design and plan cost benchmarks. As the largest survey of its kind, the UBA Health Plan Survey defines benchmarks by a greater number of specific industries, regions and employer size categories than is available from any other resource. The 2011 UBA Benefit Opinions Survey (which delineates employers' positions and opinions on Health Care Strategy, Health Benefits Philosophy and Opinion, Health Plan Management, Personal Health Management, Employee Communication, and Scope of Benefits Offered) serves as a companion piece to the 2012 UBA Health Plan Survey.

ABOUT EBS CAPSTONE EBS Capstone is a full-service insurance advisor, providing employee benefits, property & casualty and retirement planning solutions. Whether your company is emerging or established, we are committed to providing you with superior customer service, innovative solutions and strategic advice to help you achieve your business goals. What makes us different is our partner-driven approach, dedicated team of experts who focus on critical disciplines and service areas and continuous investment in resources and technology.

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Largest Health Plan Survey Cites Key Trends for National and Massachusetts Employer Health Plans

06-09-2012 16:41 Florida Retiree Carol Berman of West Palm Beach, Florida, addressed the Democratic National Convention about the Affordable Care Act and how it has benefitted her after falling into the so-called "Donut Hole" with prescription medication. "I'm one of the seniors who retired to this piece of heaven on earth and I'm as happy as a clam. But it's not just the sunshine; it's Obamacare."

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Florida Retiree Carol Berman Talks Health Care Reform at DNC - Video