Hazards of High Deductibles?
See this nice article on high deductible health insurance, by a reporter I spoke to, if I remember correctly, while walking my dog in one of Chapel Hill’s nicest parks.
See this nice article on high deductible health insurance, by a reporter I spoke to, if I remember correctly, while walking my dog in one of Chapel Hill’s nicest parks.
Here is a nice follow-up story on my recent New England Journal article on improving the design of health insurance exchanges. Comparing health insurance plans – whether signing up through Healthcare.gov or weighing employer-sponsored plans with a spouse – can feel like wading through a sea of information on deductibles, co-payments and monthly premiums. Now…
Any sensible plan to reform the U.S. health care system must reform the way we pay physicians. Currently, we reward doctors for doing more “stuff” for their patients — for performing tests and procedures whether or not these interventions are necessary. Because of this strange reimbursement system, many primary care physicians receive more money performing…
Republicans and Democrats agree that Medicare is in trouble – that if its costs keep rising faster than inflation, we will face insurmountable federal budget deficits. They also agree that the problem can be fixed. But that is where their agreement comes to an end, and where the Democrats hold a psychological advantage over Republicans……
Obamacare has come under intense criticism for harming businesses, which will see their employee costs rise as a result of the ACA employer mandate. A recent New York Times article reported that complying with Obamacare regulations would “cost about $1 per hour per employee” for agricultural companies paying people to work in the fields. That is a…
For most Medicare patients in United States right now, Medicare pays for hospital stays on the basis of what are called Diagnostic Related Groups or DRGs. You get diagnosed with pneumonia, and your hospital gets payment to treat a typical case of pneumonia. Name the diagnosis, and the hospital will know what it gets paid….
Many companies are large enough they self-insure—they take on the financial risk of paying for their employees’ health expenses. In these cases, there is no insurance company around to negotiate prices. Instead, your employer must bring itself to the negotiating table (or maybe, these days, to the negotiation-Zoom-room?). That might mean that your costs, including…