The rate of young adults without health insurance has dropped because of President Barack Obama's health care reform law, but expanded coverage for the age group could disappear if the Supreme Court strikes down the statute, a Gallup poll out Friday shows.

When health care reform became law in March 2010, 28 percent of Americans aged 18-25 did not have health insurance. During the first quarter of this year, that rate had fallen to 23 percent. Obama's law allows people under age 26 to remain on their parents' insurance plans, which has provided health benefits to a population that historically has been less likely to have coverage.

The Supreme Court is expected to issue a decision by the end of this month on whether Obama's health care reform law is constitutional. Justices could uphold the law, invalidate the individual mandate that most people must obtain health coverage or other provisions, or strike down the entire statute. Under the last scenario, young adults would lose the guarantee of coverage they now have through their parents' insurance.

"The young adults who appear to have taken advantage of the provision allowing them to stay on their parents' health insurance until age 26 may lose their coverage. Thus, these young adults will be even more reliant on an upturn in the economy for access to health insurance," according to Gallup.

Overall, 16.9 percent of Americans have no health insurance, Gallup reports. The Census Bureau estimates that almost 50 million people in the U.S. are uninsured. Young adults continue to have higher rates of uninsurance than older Americans. Because Medicare covers anyone aged 65 or older, just 3 percent of senior citizens had no health insurance during the first three months of this year. The uninsured rate for working-age adults between 25 and 64 years old was 19.6 percent in the first quarter, which is almost five percentage points higher than in January 2008, according to Gallup.

Health insurance coverage translated into better access to medical care in states that enacted their own laws for young adults prior to the national reforms, according to a recent study from the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York. It doesn't fix everything, however, as the Commonwealth Fund illustrates in a report issued Friday. Costs remain burdensome even for young adults with health insurance: 36 percent of people aged 19 to 29 reported they had difficulty paying medical bills or were in debt because of health care expenses.

There's a chance young adults might not lose the health coverage they get through their parents, even if Obama's law is repealed. Health insurance companies may be reluctant to dump young adults because their parents, who are the paying customers, like the policy. Likewise, some congressional Republicans have indicated that they would attempt to restore this popular provision of health care reform, though the party remains divided about how, or whether, to respond to a potential repeal of Obama's law.

Related on HuffPost:

Read more from the original source:

Health Care Reform Boosts Health Insurance For Young Adults, Gallup Poll Shows

With all the attention paid to affordable health care, experts say standard dental coverage has changed little over the last 20 years while leading to greater out-of-pocket costs for consumers.

As with the rising costs of overall health care, many times only the wealthiest have access to important dental care.

Dr. Paul Glassman DDS, professor of dental practice and director of community oral health at University of the Pacific, said dental benefits and the cap on dental health plan benefits have not changed much in the past 20 years. But the cost of dental care has increased "dramatically."

"A plan that covered $1,000 used to get a lot," he said. "Now if you have an exam and get fillings, you've used your maximum."

As a result, more people are paying out of pocket if they want additional work done, he said.

And those who struggle to afford oral health care may find even more problems down the line, with gum disease possibly contributing to ailments like diabetes and heart disease.

Real out-of-pocket dental expenditures increased to $332 in 2008 from $270 in 1996, according to the American Dental Association's (ADA) report published in April called, "Breaking Down Barriers to Oral health for All Americans: The Role of Finance." The ADA said the figure dropped to $323 in 2009, but "this likely reflects the state of the economy, rather than any improvement in dental benefits."

Real per capita expenditures on overall personal health care reached $6,819 in 2009.

Glassman said a number of issues have contributed to dental care's higher costs. One major reason is that labor costs have increased in dental offices.

"Despite the recession, demand for their services was pretty good," he said. "So they were able to raise prices and still able to have busy practices."

See the article here:

Dental Plans: Paying More For Less?

Nearly six in ten American voters want the Supreme Court to overturn at least part of the 2010 health care law, according to a new Fox News poll.

The Supreme Court is expected to announce its decision on the law by the end of June.

Click here to view the full results.

The poll, released Friday, finds 38 percent of voters think the Supreme Court should toss out the entire law, while another 21 percent would keep most of the law, but invalidate the mandate for Americans to buy health insurance. Three voters in 10 think the court should let the entire law stand (30 percent).

When asked directly if the requirement to buy health insurance is a violation of individual rights protected by the Constitution, 60 percent of voters say yes -- almost identical to the number who think the court should overturn at least that part of the health care law.

Nearly nine of 10 Republicans (87 percent), two-thirds of independents (66 percent) and a third of Democrats (33 percent) think the individual mandate is a violation of individual rights.

Democrats (53 percent) are more than twice as likely as independents (22 percent) and five times more likely than Republicans (10 percent) to think the Supreme Court should let the health care law stand.

A 65-percent majority of Republicans and a 40-percent plurality of independents want the law overturned completely. Some 14 percent of Democrats agree.

In general, more voters oppose the new health care law than favor it (49-40 percent). In April, soon after the court heard oral arguments, 53 percent were opposed and 40 percent favored it.

Slightly more voters say they trust Barack Obama (43 percent) than Mitt Romney (40 percent) to handle the health care issue. Nine percent say neither.

Link:

FOX NEWS POLL: Majority say ObamaCare violates rights- VIDEO: ObamaCare's effect on hospitals

UCSF Researchers Studied Program That Could Reduce National Health Care Expenses By $6 Billion a Year

Newswise Creating specialized hospital units for elderly people with acute medical illness could reduce national health care costs by as much $6 billion a year, according to a new study by UCSF researchers.

The team assessed a program called Acute Care for Elders, or ACE, which offers individualized care for older patients in specially designed hospital units. It is being piloted in 200 hospitals nationwide, serving an estimated 100,000 patients annually.

The Medicare proportion of the health care budget is going up faster than anything else, and the cost of hospital stays is one of the fastest growing components of that care, said senior author Seth Landefeld, MD, chief of the UCSF Division of Geriatrics. This was really an opportunity to look at how you can deliver higher value care while maintaining or improving quality and reducing cost.

In their research, published this week in the June issue of Health Affairs, Landefeld and his colleagues conducted a randomized controlled study of 1,632 elderly patients seen either in the ACE program or a traditional inpatient hospital setting between August 1993 to May 1997. They found that the average length-of-stay was shorter for patients in the ACE program 6.7 days versus 7.3 days. They also found that patients in the ACE program incurred lower hospital costs, $9,477 versus $10,451, or a savings of $974 per patient. Nationally, said Landefeld, these numbers could translate to a one percent saving of all Medicare expenditures or $6 billion a year.

Whats encouraging about this is the outcomes were identical in both groups. So we were able to save money while maintaining the quality of care, said first author Deborah Barnes, PhD, MPH, an associate professor of Psychiatry and Epidemiology & Biostatistics at UCSF. So despite being released about half a day earlier, patients had similar levels of function at discharge, and also the readmission rates were identical in two groups over three months.

Landefeld and his colleagues say minor changes in the current health care model can yield significant results. Leaving patients in their hospital beds, for example, or constantly interrupting them in the middle of the night for disruptive evaluations, can lead to longer recovery time and longer hospital stays, he said.

What do most elderly people want to do at the hospital? They want to go home, and they want to get there as soon as possible, Landefeld said. In the ACE program, families were involved from day one as opposed to being quarantined from their loved ones. And we looked at restructuring how hospitals work to get more of the benefit without the unintended consequences.

The ACE program works by creating an interdisciplinary team environment that specializes in the care of older patients. The number of clinical staff per patient is similar to traditional units, but patients are assessed daily by the team, and the level of independence and accountability of the nurses is increased.

Part of what ACE does is improve communication and decrease work. And thats a strategy thats generally popular with lots of folks involved, Landefeld said. Youre not asking people to do a lot of extra work. Youre just asking them to do their work differently. The researchers say barriers to ACE being implemented on a larger scale include the ability for clinicians to change ingrained work cultures and adjust schedules to meet and talk about the patients.

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Specialized Hospital Care for Elderly Patients Could Significantly Cut Costs

Provider groups that stepped up to be the cutting edge of Oregon's health reforms say the state is reneging on promises of a financial helping hand.

Led by Gov. John Kitzhaber, lawmakers earlier this year approved ambitious reforms that would turn over the state's Medicaid-funded Oregon Health Plan to beefed-up managed care groups called coordinated care organizations.

Now, members of the new groups are crying foul after a directive Thursday that they'll receive no new funds for the additional responsibilities they've agreed to take on -- mental health care, prevention efforts, quality measurements and new patient-care staff, among others.

They say the success of the reforms is at risk because revamping the care of 600,000 people takes money.

"We're stunned," said Janet Meyer, interim CEO of a consortium of Portland-area hospitals and other providers called the Tri-County Medicaid Collaborative. "That wasn't the impression we had been given throughout the process."

But the new groups simply have to be more creative, says Oregon Health Authority Director Bruce Goldberg, who is overseeing the reforms. "There are no additional dollars," he said.

The state asked the new care groups to submit rate requests based on their projected costs, but on Thursday informed the groups that those requests should be no greater than last year's rate, which itself was an 11-percent cut.

The message was "if it's not around this number -- and very close -- you will not be accepted as a CCO," said Jeff Heatherington, who heads FamilyCare, a Portland-based physician group that is among the new care groups.

The state's mandated CCO rates -- about $250 per member per month, in some cases -- are about 20 percent less than what the groups requested based on costs.

Some managed care groups "have really been struggling" and need more money, said pediatrician Bob Dannenhoffer of Douglas County's Umpqua Health Alliance. He said he hopes the state makes allowances on requirements such as quality of care reporting.

Read more:

New health care groups say Oregon's reforms could sputter without more cash

WASHINGTON After weeks of talks, drug industry lobbyists were growing nervous. To cut a deal with the White House on overhauling health care, they needed to be sure that President Obama would stop a proposal intended to bring down medicine prices.

On June 3, 2009, one of the lobbyists e-mailed Nancy-Ann DeParle, the presidents health care adviser. Ms. DeParle reassured the lobbyist. Although Mr. Obama was overseas, she wrote, she and other top officials had made decision, based on how constructive you guys have been, to oppose importation on a different proposal.

Just like that, Mr. Obamas staff signaled a willingness to put aside support for the reimportation of prescription medicines at lower prices and by doing so solidified a compact with an industry the president had vilified on the campaign trail. Central to Mr. Obamas drive to remake the nations health care system was an unlikely collaboration with the pharmaceutical industry that forced unappealing trade-offs.

Other political news of note

Under fire from Republicans, President Obama clarified an earlier assessment of the health of the private sector, explaining that it's "absolutely clear" the economy is not doing "fine."

The e-mail exchange three years ago was among a cache of messages obtained from the industry and released in recent weeks by House Republicans including a new batch put out Friday detailing the industrys advertising campaign supporting Mr. Obamas health care overhaul. The broad contours of his dealings with the industry were known in 2009, but the newly public e-mails open a window into the compromises underlying a health care law now awaiting the judgment of the Supreme Court.

Mr. Obamas deal-making in 2009 represented a pivotal moment in his young presidency, a juncture where the heady idealism of the campaign trail collided with the messy reality of Washington policy making. A president who had promised to negotiate on C-Span cut a closed-door deal with a powerful lobby, signifying to disillusioned liberal supporters a loss of innocence, or perhaps even the triumph of cynicism.

But the bargain was one that the president deemed necessary to forestall industry opposition that had thwarted efforts to cover the uninsured for generations. Without the deal, in which the industry agreed to provide $80 billion to expand coverage in exchange for protection from policies that would cost more, Mr. Obama calculated he might get nowhere.

Throughout his campaign, President Obama was clear that he would bring every stakeholder to the table in order to pass health reform, even longtime opponents like the pharmaceutical industry, Dan Pfeiffer, the White House communications director, said Friday. He understood correctly that the unwillingness to work with people on both sides of the issue was one of the reasons why it took a century to pass health reform.

Republicans see the deal as hypocritical. He said it was going to be the most open and honest and transparent administration ever and lobbyists wont be drafting the bills, said Representative Michael C. Burgess of Texas, a Republican on the House Energy and Commerce Committee examining the deal. Then when it came time, the door closed, the lobbyists came in and the bills were written.

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NYT: Drug industry pushed Obama

06-06-2012 09:51 The Health Insurance and Billing Office provides insurance and billing support for Health Services. This support includes educating our patients and the campus community on health insurance options, assisting with billing questions, understanding billing language and terminology, providing guidance on how to be savvy consumers of health insurance and health care and assisting with the management of the Student Health Insurance Plan (SHIP). In addition, we assist students with the waiver process and education on how to utilize all other insurance plans at Boise State University Health Services. For more information visit

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Health Insurance 101 - Video

MUSKEGON - A Muskegon surgeon who has a plan for universal health care took to the MLive comments forum to clear up some questions about a program that he says would expand coverage and lower costs.

Dr. James Rice is chief of staff at Mercy Health Partners and president of the Muskegon County Medical Society. He was recently elected to the Michigan State Medical Society board of directors, representing physicians from Muskegon, Newaygo, Oceana, Mason, Mecosta, Osceola and Lake counties.

Everyone would pay into a health insurance system through flat income and sales taxes, which would be held in a state or regional health fund, Rice said. Each person would be allocated a health care budget based on their likely health needs.

People would incur a monetary penalty if they skipped preventative care that is supported by evidence, such as vaccines, mammograms and colonoscopies, Rice said. They would get a bonus for shopping around for the best buy on nonemergency care.

Here are some of the questions asked by MLive.com commenters, and Rice's answers.

Question from shanedr:

Email: mhart2@mlive.com

See more here:

Health care reform Q & A with Muskegon surgeon

Listen Now [3 min 46 sec] Listen Now [3 min 46 sec]

As the U.S. Supreme Court prepares its decision on the landmark health care reform law, conversations about health care are happening just about everywhere, from the grocery store to the corner caf, in big cities and in small towns. And the reason is simple:

"Health care in America is now unsustainable," says Don Berwick, former administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. "What we know is health care can be a lot better than it is and lower cost by changing health care to be more responsive to patients.

Berwick became Medicare chief just six months after the Obama Administrations health reform law passed. During his almost 18-month tenure, he implemented many of the earliest provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, including coverage for those with pre-existing conditions, and the introduction of no-cost preventive care such as check ups, cancer screenings and immunizations for Medicare patients.

Berwick is among many leaders in the health care field who believe reform is now on a trajectory that wont be stopped, no matter the justices ruling.

Whether that law survives or not, the ship has left the port," he says. "Theres so much change in this country, in the private sector as well as the public sector. Doctors, hospitals, nurses everyone knows that care needs to change to better meet the needs of patients.

Joel Hay, a professor at the Schaeffer Center for Health Policy and Economics at the University of Southern California, agrees. He points out that medical costs now devour 17 percent of our Gross Domestic Product. Put another way, those costs have consumed all pay increases given to working-class Americans during the past two decades.

"The average American is not gaining ground in terms of take-home pay precisely because health care costs are out of control," says Hay, who opposes the Affordable Care Act as too unwieldy and complex. Instead, he proposes a different plan:

"Instead of having an enormously complex plan that is run out of Washington... we (should) allow the states to experiment on their own. Let them take charge of their own systems to figure out something that will work a lot better."

Governor Edmund G. Brown, Jr.'s administration says thats exactly what it plans to do should the Supreme Court deem the federal health care law unconstitutional. However, the shape a California health care plan might take isn't yet clear - especially in light of the states $16 billion budget deficit.

Read this article:

Health care reform trajectory won't be stopped by Supreme Court ruling

An Iowa Senate Democrat is trying to organize a bipartisan summit meeting on health care, but he's getting a cool reception from Republicans. Sen. Jack Hatch of Des Moines said Thursday that he wants Iowa leaders to get together soon after the U.S.

Follow this link:

Hatch calls for health summit

Health care and the Affordable Care Act are very complicated subjects with many moving parts.  My goal is to bring simplicity and understanding of the health care system and the law to everyday people.  With understanding the system and the problems, we can work together toward solutions.

Originally posted here:

The Health Care Reform Reference Post

Despite a dismal health-care worker hand washing record in Edmonton, a local health professor says the germ spreading problem starts at home.

Read more from the original source:

Health-care pros could do better

Hon Tariana Turia

Associate Minister of Health

8 June 2012 Speech

Inside and Out Improving primary health care for current and former inmates and their whnau

Nordmeyer Theatre, University of Otago Wellington

I want to acknowledge Te Rp Rangahau Hauora a Eru Pmare, and Regional Public Health for your initiative in holding this hui today and in particular to mihi to Bridget Robson, as Associate Dean, Mori and Director for your commitment to the kaupapa of primary health care and Peter Gush, Regional Public Health.

I want to also acknowledge the vision behind today, which I understand was inspired by the work of two people: the prisoner reintegration project led by Sione Feki, and the work on continuity of care pioneered by Dr Paula King, a public health registrar. Tn krua.

I also want to mihi to a long time advocate, Kim Workman, for his commitment to this issue.

The unique set of challenges that emerge from the interface between the Corrections system and the healthcare system have challenged many of us for many years and it is a sign of progress that today marks a new milestone in this regard.

As I look around this room at old friends, respected colleagues, people who have pushed the boundaries in so many ways, it seems a remarkable coming together; this is the day that Justice meets Health and Health meets Justice.

More:

Turia: Improving primary health care for inmates

This week, we had six leading legal experts debating the Supreme Court’s upcoming health care ruling. Learn what the group said about the next steps after the court rules.

Excerpt from:

What happens after the Supreme Court rules on health care?

Barack Obama and his team know the health care law will be the defining legislative accomplishment of his term.

But that doesnt mean they want it to be the defining issue of the 2012 campaign.

The Supreme Court, of course, has other ideas. Later this month, the Roberts Court is expected to rule on the Affordable Care Act. The justices questions during arguments are a notoriously unpredictable guide but conventional wisdom predicts the law will at least be stripped of its keystone provision, the mandate that nearly every American buy their own health insurance. The court could even bring down the whole law.

Obamas brain trust believes public opinion about the law is already locked in, and the decision is coming early enough in the cycle that it wont have a huge impact on the race.

(See also: 10 best pro and con health care quotes)

The election will be about the economy. Period. Health care only matters in the context of the larger economy, a top Democrat with close ties to the campaign told POLITICO.

The presidents aides have vehemently denied the administration is prepping for the law to be overturned or gutted and theres good reason to downplay the notion they are scheming behind closed doors. Why antagonize the justices? Why admit the law might be unconstitutional?

But there is undeniable danger in the optics of an election-year health care defeat, just as there was in early 2010 when the bill teetered. Obama simply cant allow health care to be a Jimmy Carter-in-the-desert moment, proof that he recklessly, fecklessly pushed through a doomed law at the expense of focusing on the economy and jobs.

So quiet plans are under way inside the administration under the cone, away from the prying eyes of the press, advocates and Hill aides, according to people close to the situation.

These are the three main scenarios Obama is likely gaming out the ugly, the bad and the good in that order.

See original here:

3 health care scenarios for the president

(USA TODAY) - While President Obama, Mitt Romney and other politicians anxiously await the Supreme Court's health care ruling, other Americans are rendering their own judgments.

Many have problems with Obama's health care law.

According to a new CBS News/New York Times poll, 41% think the high court should completely overturn the law Obama signed in 2010.

An additional 27% say the justices should strike down only the law's key feature: The individual mandate, the requirement that nearly all Americans buy some form of health insurance. That provision is key to financing the health care plan.

The poll also shows 24% support upholding the health care law in its entirety.

The Supreme Court is expected to hand down a decision later this month.

It is the most anticipated ruling in years, one that may well affect the presidential race between Obama and Romney.

If elected, Romney has vowed to repeal what he calls "Obamacare." Obama says the law will provide insurance to nearly all Americans, and reduce medical costs in the long run.

Not surprisingly, support and opposition to the health care law falls largely along party lines

USA TODAY

See the rest here:

Many have problems with health care law

BOSTON (AP) -- The Massachusetts House of Representatives has passed a proposal that aims to reel in the state's spiraling health-care costs by $160 billion over the next 15 years. The House and Senate must now resolve their differences over the measure before it can go to Gov. Deval Patrick.

Lawmakers have been working on legislation that tries to lower the costs resulting from the 2006 landmark Massachusetts health-care legislation that mandates health insurance for nearly all state residents. The House passed its version of the bill 148-7 late Tuesday night.

This bill aims to contain health-care costs by evening out disparities in the prices of health services. It would require hospitals that charge more than 20 percent above the state median price for a service to pay a 10 percent surcharge.

It also focuses on workforce development, overhauls medical malpractice laws and adopts alternative payment methods, such as global and bundled payments for services.

A conference committee will now reconcile the House and Senate versions of the bill, which differ on certain provisions like the surcharge on hospitals and other health-care providers.

The Senate bill does not call for any surcharge.

Patrick, a Democrat, told reporters Wednesday that he is looking forward to the work of the committee.

"I'm confident we are going to get to a great and final bill," he said. "It will be a good bill for patients and for the industry as well."

During debate on the bill, Rep. Steven Walsh, D-Lynn, said health-care costs in Massachusetts have been rising from 6.7 percent to 8 percent annually, with the state spending $66 billion on health care last year

Signed by then-Gov. Mitt Romney, the 2006 law dramatically expanded access to health coverage in Massachusetts. But premiums and other health care costs have threatened to undermine the law's long-term fiscal stability.

Original post:

State House OKs health-care proposal

MISSISSAUGA, ONTARIO--(Marketwire -06/07/12)- The Mississauga Halton Community Care Access Centre (CCAC) last night unveiled its 2011-2012 Annual Report to the Community, entitled "Health Care At Home," revealing the organization's achievements of the last fiscal year, including: an increase in the number of clients served; an increase in the number of visits received by clients; helping more frail, elderly clients to remain safely at home and out of long-term care facilities; and maintaining an Alternate Level of Care (ALC) rate of just 6.5 percent. Only seven out of 100 hospital beds are being used by patients who could be better served in the community; so patients who need to be in hospital for surgical or medical treatments can be admitted faster.

"Our Health Care At Home report confirms that the demand and need for home care in our region are increasing as the seniors' population grows," says Caroline Brereton, chief executive officer of the Mississauga Halton CCAC. "More than one-in-two of our clients are aged 75 years or older, many with multiple chronic and complex health conditions requiring very intense levels of personalized care. We are providing these older adults with a level of care in their own homes that, until recently, was only available in hospital."

More Clients, More Care, More Value

The Mississauga Halton CCAC's Stay at Home program provides home care to citizens in need of support to remain at home instead of entering institutionalized care. In 2011-2012, 98.2 per cent of clients in the Stay at Home program remained safely at home and out of long-term care facilities.

The organization's palliative and end-of-life programs experienced double-digit growth of 10 per cent in 2011-2012. More than 1,600 citizens received highly specialized, compassionate care as they fulfilled their wish to die with dignity, in their own homes.

The number of clients receiving Short Stay services - including anyone recovering from joint replacement surgery, requiring wound care, or requiring intravenous therapy - increased by 15 per cent. Nearly 30,000 clients were able to move from hospital to home three days earlier, on average, saving approximately $1.3-million in hospital days.

Last year also saw continued strong collaboration between the Mississauga Halton CCAC and its regional hospital partners to move more patients from hospital to home - safely. The Mississauga Halton CCAC achieved an ALC rate of just 6.5 per cent, meaning that only seven out of 100 hospital beds were occupied by patients who could receive more appropriate care in the community. The year-end result is also well below the Mississauga Halton Local Health Integration Network's target of eight per cent.

Also in 2011-2012, the Mississauga Halton CCAC's Health Care Connect program helped 1,702 people find a family doctor. Currently, there are just 770 citizens who have requested and are waiting to be matched with a family doctor, one of the lowest rates of residents without a primary care physician in Ontario.

Virtual Tours of Long-Term Care Facilities

Last evening the Mississauga Halton CCAC announced it will now make the wait list numbers available to the public for each of the region's 27 long-term care facilities. A new online resource features virtual tours of each long-term care facility, the number of clients waiting for each facility and answers to frequently asked questions about the application process. Prior to its official launch, the virtual tour videos had already been collectively viewed more than 1,100 times.

Here is the original post:

More Than 2.1 Million Home Health Care Visits Made to Mississauga Halton Residents in 2011-2012

ANN ARBOR, Mich.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

New data on health spending suggests the nation is in a fourth consecutive year of historically low growth, continuing a trend of roughly 4 percent growth since 2009. Health care spending grew by just 3.9 percent in April 2012 relative to April 2011, down slightly from the 4.0 percent growth rate observed in March 2012. Health care prices in April 2012 were 1.9 percent higher than in April 2011, but this increase has brought price growth barely above its February 2012 14-year low of 1.8 percent.

These data come from the June Health Sector Economic Indicators briefs released by Altarum Institutes Center for Sustainable Health Spending. The briefscovering health care spending, utilization, prices and employmentare at http://www.altarum.org/healthindicators.

In contrast to slow price and spending growth, health care employment rose by 33,000 jobs in May 2012, well above the 24-month average of 25,000. The health care share of total employment reached an all-time high of 10.8 percentroughly 1 in 9 U.S. jobs are now in the health sector.

Our analysis suggests there may be a true downward trend to health spending in this country, said Dr. Charles Roehrig, director of the Altarum Center for Sustainable Health Spending. But its not time to celebrate. We dont know the cause of this decline, and health job growth is at odds with the low spending. Somethings got to giveeither spending grows, job growth slows or wages in the health industry decline.

The health spending share of GDP, at 18.0 percent in March 2012, is down from the all-time high of 18.2 percent in June 2011. In addition, per capita health care utilization growth was 0.8 percent in April, year-over-year, continuing a downward trend observed since January 2011.

There will be a media conference call to discuss this months data on Thursday, June 7, 2012 from 1:30 - 2:00 p.m. (EDT). Interested media should join the call by dialing 877-820-7831, participant code 238-188#.

Altarum Institute (www.altarum.org) integrates objective research and client-centered consulting skills to deliver comprehensive, systems-based solutions that improve health and health care.

Read the original:

2012 Likely to Be Fourth Consecutive Year of Historically Low Growth in Health Spending

insurance

Highlights

Why is your health insurance so expensive?

In some cases, it's because your insurer was simply allowed to increase premiums unchecked.

But not anymore. Under health care reform's "rate review" provision, all proposed rate increases of 10 percent or more must be gone over by independent experts. If the planned price hikes don't stand up to scrutiny, states can negotiate them down or, where authorized, deny them outright. The law also makes it easy for you to track how your health insurer's rate proposals have stood up to the test.

Since the crackdown on rising premiums began last September, Connecticut reduced a proposed Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield increase from 12.9 percent to 3.9 percent, New Mexico trimmed a Presbyterian Healthcare rate hike from 9.7 percent to 4.7 percent, and New York held three companies' average proposed increases of 12.7 percent to 8.2 percent.

Cutting down price hikes that are deemed unreasonable is just one facet of the federal rate review initiative. Under the Affordable Care Act, or ACA, health insurance companies in every state now must publicly justify any proposed rate increase at or above the 10 percent threshold, in postings on the federal Healthcare.gov rate review website. Think of it as a report card for your health insurance company.

You can log on to the site and search by state or health insurer to see if and why your premiums may be jumping at least 10 percent, and read the findings by state or federal examiners on whether a requested increase passed muster. To date, more than 185 rate increases affecting 1.3 million policyholders have been posted to the site.

Later this year, the "medical loss ratios" of health insurers also will be posted, giving you a closer look at whether your insurer is meeting the health care law's requirement that at least 80 percent of your premium be spent directly on medical care. If that's not the case, the insurance company will now owe you a rebate for the difference.

"The whole point of the Affordable Care Act is to create this very open, transparent marketplace so that consumer choice can guide toward better outcomes," says Brian Chiglinsky, spokesman for the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. "We're trying to prompt consumers to say, 'Should I be buying this policy?'"

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Health care reform holds premiums in check