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Category Archives: Health Care

Attention, Shoppers: Prices For 70 Health Care Procedures Now Online!

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Shopping for an MRI scan? Guroo.org, won't yet show you what your local hospital or radiologist charges, but it will reveal the average cost of the test in your area. iStockphoto hide caption

Shopping for an MRI scan? Guroo.org, won't yet show you what your local hospital or radiologist charges, but it will reveal the average cost of the test in your area.

Buying health care in America is like shopping blindfolded at Macy's and getting the bill months after you leave the store, Princeton economist Uwe Reinhardt likes to say.

But an online tool that went live Wednesday is supposed to help change that, giving patients in most parts of the country a small peek at the prices of medical tests and procedures before they open their wallets.

Got a sore knee? Having a baby? Need a primary-care doctor? Shopping for an MRI scan?

A website called Guroo.org shows the average local cost for 70 common diagnoses and medical tests in most states. It's showing the real cost not the published charges, which often get marked down based on a giant database of what insurance companies actually pay.

OK, this isn't like Priceline.com for knee replacements. What Guroo hopes to do for consumers is still limited.

It won't reflect costs for particular hospitals or doctors, although officials say that's coming, in some cases. And it doesn't yet have much to say about the quality of care.

Still, consumer advocates say Guroo should shed new light on the nation's opaque, complex and maddening medical bazaar.

"This has the potential to be a game changer," said Katherine Hempstead, who analyzes health insurance for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. "It's good for uninsured people. It's good for people with high deductibles. It's good for any person [who is] kind of wondering: If I go to see the doctor for such-and-such, what might happen next?"

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Attention, Shoppers: Prices For 70 Health Care Procedures Now Online!

Billings health care providers watching Medicaid expansion closely

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With Montana's 2015 Legislature nearing the midpoint, health care organizations in Billings are monitoring bills to provide coverage for uninsured Montanans, funding for mental health services and immunization regulations.

Billings Clinic, St. Vincent Healthcare and RiverStone Health representatives are watching closely the effort to expand Medicaid to as many as 70,000 Montanans.

"The problem has been spelled out that its roughly 70,000 Montanans who are eligible, so theyre going uncovered," said Mike Foster, regional director of advocacy for St. Vincent Healthcare. "We try to position ourselves as being a strong proponent of finding a way that works so we can get that coverage."

Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock proposed a plan to accept about $700 million in federal funds that would expand Medicaid a federal program that provides health insurance to seniors and low-income citizensto as many as 70,000 residents whose income is up to 138 percent of the national poverty level.

Republicans in Helena, however, largely oppose the plan and argue that Medicaid coverage shouldn't go to childless, able-bodied adults. Nancy Ballance's House Bill 455, which would revise Medicaid laws to cover parents who earn up to 100 percent of the federal poverty level, 700 poor and disabled people already lined up for spots in home care and a handful of military veterans who don't get other forms of coverage.

That plan, they say, would cost about $32 million and would extend coverage to another 10,000 to 15,000 Montanans.

Representatives from Billings-area health organizations generally said they prefer Bullock's proposal,House Bill 249, which will be presented by Democratic Rep. Pat Noonan of Ramsay on March 6 before the House Human Services Committee.

"It's an opportunity for a healthier, more prosperous Montana," said Barbara Schneeman, RiverStone's director of communications and advocacy. "Many of the people who would be eligible for the expansion would be the working poor, and they often don't have health coverage or sick leave. When they get sick, they're unable to work, they don't get paid."

More than half of the patients seen in Montana community health centers are uninsured, Schneeman said, and about 8,000 people who received care at RiverStone last year would be eligible for coverage under the expansion.

JJ Carmody, Billings Clinic's director of reimbursement, and Heidi Duncan, the clinic's director of health policy, said that both plans use federal Medicaid money and that Montana hospitals have contributed a notable amount of money into the federal dollars that would end up back in Montana.

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Billings health care providers watching Medicaid expansion closely

Health care students at Missoula College find jobs aplenty

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Its no secret that job growth within the health care industry is booming as the American population ages.

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, employment of registered nurses is projected to grow 19 percent - an increase of 526,800 jobs - from 2012 to 2022, faster than the average for most other occupations.

The number of jobs for Licensed Practical Nurses (LPNs) is expected to grow by a whopping 25 percent in that same time frame, an increase of 738,400 jobs.

A national emphasis on preventative care, growing rates of chronic conditions such as diabetes and obesity, and baby boomers who are living longer, more active lives have all led to an increased demand for health care professionals.

In Missoula County, that trend has far-reaching implications, as the local economy is dependent on the health care industry and hundreds of college students are receiving the training necessary to enter the field.

According to a recent study by the Bureau of Business and Economic Research at the University of Montana, 17 percent of the countys economic base depends on the medical sector.

The health care industry generates more than $545 million in labor earnings every year, making it by far the largest source of income in Missoula County's economy, according to a report by economist Larry Swanson, director of the OConnor Center for the Rocky Mountain West.

Since 2001, the health care industry has grown much more explosively than any other sector in Missoula, increasing personal income by $232 million.

The single occupation in Missoula with the highest projected growth until 2020 with an additional 2,000 jobs expected at least is registered nursing. Those jobs pay a median of $56,790 per year in Montana, but require a high level of education and training.

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Health care students at Missoula College find jobs aplenty

Health Care Sector Update for 02/25/2015: IMPR,CTRV,VVUS

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Top Health Care Stocks

JNJ -0.26%

PZE +0.67%

MRK +0.36%

ABT +0.83%

AMGN +0.53%

Health care stocks were narrowly higher, with the NYSE Health Care Sector Index climbing less than 0.1% and shares of health care companies in the S&P 500 rising 0.2% as a group.

In company news, Imprivata ( IMPR ) rose Wednesday after the health care IT security company reported a smaller-than-expected Q4 net loss as well as improved revenue compared with year-ago levels, also exceeding Wall Street expectations.

Net loss during the three months ended Dec. 31 was $1.7 million, or $0.07 per share, trimming a $3.3 million net loss during the same quarter last year. Excluding one-time items, the adjusted net loss was $0.04 per share, coming in $0.05 per share narrower than the Capital IQ consensus.

Revenue rose 34% over year-ago levels to $29 million, topping analyst estimates by $2.39 million.

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Health Care Sector Update for 02/25/2015: IMPR,CTRV,VVUS

Wonkblog: Major insurers are finally revealing one of health-cares greatest mysteries

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The obscure, seemingly random universe of health-care pricing is getting a little less opaquetoday. Some of the country's largest health insurers are coming together to reveal the prices they pay for dozens of medical services across the country in an effort to help consumers become savvier shoppers.

All the information can be found at Guroo.com, a site launched Wednesday morning that was built by a health-care nonprofit group with information from United Healthcare, Humana, Aetna and Assurant Health. The transparency effort is a nod to the growing trend of patients being asked to pay more out of their own pockets, as insurers try to manage their costs and steer customers toward preferred health-care providers.

"The rise in health-care spending underscores the need to make it more transparent and help consumers make more informed decisions regarding their care," said David Newman, executive director of the Health Care Cost Institute, which built the Web site.

Guroo's initial rollout will let patients compare costs for more than 70 common services, which includes things as simple as a doctor's visit, or something more complex like a knee surgery. These are prices for health-care services that patients may shop for ahead of time, as opposed to the cost of emergency room care.

Anyone can use the site without charge to get a better idea of the baseline prices for health-care services in their area, based on the actual prices that these insurers pay to providers. Guroo's data won't tell the whole story for patient costs, though. The site doesn't break down what a consumer pays for services versus what the insurer pays. It's better to think of the price platform as more of a guide, Newman said.

As previous data have shown, prices for the same medical service vary widely across the country, even within the same city. In Dallas, for example, a knee surgery will run anywhere between $16,772 and $61,585 depending on the hospital.And in health care, there's little relationship between price and quality of services.

Patients already have price transparency tools to choose from, with most health insurers offering their own platform for their customers. The difference with Guroo is that there's more data across different insurers compiled in one place.

"It's data that no one else has," Newman said.

The site lets patients search by condition. So, if you're going in for total knee replacement surgery, for example, you type that into Guroo's homepage. Once you've clicked through a couple of options to narrow down your search, the site shows you the services you could expect: an office visit with a specialist, the surgery itself, physical therapy and follow-up office visits. You can either view the average price for your area, or a range of prices. The search results look like this:

(Guroo screenshot)

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Wonkblog: Major insurers are finally revealing one of health-cares greatest mysteries

Health care already cut to the core: Forward

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Says province needs to invest in the system to save money in the future

With the provinces finance officials ready to operate on the provincial deficit and with everythingon the table, one area that cannot sustain another fat-reduction surgery is the health-care system, says Registered Nurses Union president Debbie Forward.

Photo by Rhonda Hayward/The Telegram

Registered Nurses Union president Debbie Forward says theres no more room to cut in the health-care system.

After cutbacks in 2012, Forward said Tuesday, theres no more room to cut.

The system is working to the max, and people are working to the max, and Im hopeful they are not going to look (at health-care cuts). Health is a significant piece of the budget, but thats because health is an essential service and we need people to deliver health care.

Its not machines delivering it, its people physicians, registered nurses, other care providers, other allied health professionals, managers. All of those people are important to making sure the system functions as it should.

The provincial government is holding pre-budget consultations in the province. Oil prices have dropped sharply, the provincial debt is rising and Finance Minister Ross Wiseman has said there will likely be five more years of budget deficits before the government can return to a surplus budget.

Wiseman is asking people for suggestions about how the government can reduce the provincial deficit by either tax increases or cuts, or a combination of both, or by making government departments and agencies more efficient.

Forward says when it comes to the health-care system, the best way to save money is to invest in initiatives now that will save money in the future.

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Health care already cut to the core: Forward

Speaker: Health care solution requires all

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Feb. 25, 2015 @ 12:01 AM

HUNTINGTON - One small step forward.

That's what the Cabell-Huntington Health Department's new initiative, Regional Health Connect, hopes to help the community do as it pertains to improving the health of local people.

The group met for its second time on Tuesday at the health department's 7th Avenue facility, with representatives from various segments of the community sitting in to learn more details about where the community stands healthwise and weigh in on some solutions.

"We either seek to fix this problem or we pass it on to our children," said Tim Hazelett, administrator for the Cabell-Huntington Health Department.

Tuesday's presenter was health statistics guru David Campbell, chief executive officer of the West Virginia Health Improvement Institute and the Community Health Network of West Virginia.

He discussed everything from West Virginia's most prevalent health issues - obesity, smoking, high cholesterol, hypertension, diabetes, arthritis, lack of exercise - as well as the rise in health care costs, and the drivers and the distribution of health care costs. He also discussed the problems with health care delivery that drive up costs and some efforts being made by providers to rein in costs.

"We need a different model, a different way to deliver health care and a different way to engage people in their health," Campbell said.

The West Virginia Health Improvement Institute reports that 35 percent of West Virginia adults are relatively healthy with no ongoing health needs. Fifteen percent are relatively healthy now but at risk of developing a chronic condition, 25 percent have a chronic condition, 20 percent will have two to four chronic conditions, 4 percent have five or more chronic conditions and 1 percent has catastrophic illness.

While Appalachian culture leads to some predisposition to hypertension and other chronic conditions, other factors play a part, such as income and access to health care.

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Speaker: Health care solution requires all


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