The FDA is considering allowing us to purchase some commonly used medications without a prescription from a doctor. Medications used for high blood pressure or diabetes may be obtained without first seeing a doctor. This practice is common in European countries where a pharmacist is allowed to "prescribe" and sell...
Can't afford your health insurance premiums? One Florida motel owner has a better idea. The owner of the Fawlty Towers motel in Cocoa Beach has been unable to pay his bills due to increased competition from larger, chain motels. In an attempt to save his business, starting tomorrow (May 1, 2012) the motel will be clothing...
Maternity insurance at Costco? You can buy a 5 pound bag of potato chips, 30 rolls of toilet paper and now in some states you can also buy health insurance. But can you get it with maternity insurance?Business Insider offers this information about their health insurance, including maternity insurance.In partnership with Aetna, Costco will...
Every couple of years, we're required to do a remedial "Anti-Money Laundering" (AML) course. Basically, it's to remind us to be alert for "suspicious" activity, such as large cash deposits on life policies (among other "red flags"). It's a licensing requirement, and isn't really a big deal (given online, takes maybe a...
Long-term care insurance (LTCI) carriers really do pay LTCI claims.The American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance (AALTCI), Westlake Village, Calif., has published long term care insurance benefit statistics in a report based on its latest industry survey.The 10 carriers that participated in the survey said they paid $6.6 billion to a total of about U.S. 200,000 policyholders in 2011.The customer...
There was an interesting article in Friday's Plain Dealer regarding lung cancer screening. The real gem though was an indisputable example of consumerism working in healthcare and why PPACA's preventive coverage requirements are such a terrible idea."Last June, University Hospitals Seidman Cancer Center began offering $99 lung cancer screenings for people who have a referral from their primary physicians....
Kelley Beloff recently published an important and fact-filled post on physician reimbursement: specifically, fee-for-service vs. capitation. I think this is an extremely important topic on its own, and it’s also important because it ties to many other key topics in medical delivery and finance – e.g., utilization management and rationing. I expect we will be seeing much, much more...
The Wall Street Journal reported today, April 27, the estimated amounts of overall 2011 premium rebates required by Health Care Reform. Premium rebates are payable annually by the insurance companies to their policyholders, beginning this year in August. The reported rebate estimates come from Kaiser Family Foundation. Goldman Sachs has separately estimated similar rebate amounts...
As we've previously noted, when something looks "too good to be true," it generally is. Case in point, the now-estimated $1.3 billion in "rebates" headed towards "lucky" Americans later this summer:"The nonpartisan [sic] Kaiser Family Foundation, which calculated total rebates at $1.3 billion, says that around $426 million will go to people who bought their own health plans; $541 million will go to...
FMF hosts next week's CavRisk. Entries are due by Monday (the 30th).To submit your risk-related post, just click here to email it.You'll need to provide:■ Your post's url and title■ Your blog's url and name■ Your name and email■ A (brief) summary of the post ("Remarks")PLEASE remember: ONLY posts that relate to risk (not personal finance tips and the like).Than...
In a pair of emails, United HealthCare helpfully clears up any, um, misconceptions about how HHS Secretary Shecantbeserious is moving forward with coverage for convenience items birth control:"On March 16, 2012, [Shecantbeserious] issued an advance notice of proposed rulemaking ... to develop alternative ways organizations...
A majority of Americans believe Medicare is broken and needs to be fixed. A recent survey revealed 83% of Americans felt this way and 51% said major changes were needed.A Harris Interactive Poll had this to say about Medicare."There's a clear majority who think there is a problem that needs to be addressed, but (people also...
Patient Assistant Programs (PAP's) have been around for some time. If you have trouble paying for your prescription medication, you should explore PAP options.What is a PAP?These are programs set up by drug companies that offer free or low cost drugs to uninsured individuals who cannot afford their medication. Most brand name drugs are found in these programs.Companies offer these programs voluntarily;...
Jennifer Salopek, blogging at Wing of Zock (which, BTW, would make a great name for a rock band), makes a terrific HWR hosting debut. It's obvious that she's read every post, and offers her own insights to each entry.Kudos, Jennif...
Shingles is a painful. blistering skin rash caused by the varicella-zoster virus. The same virus that causes chicken pox is also responsible for shingles.The National Library of Medicine has this to say about shingles.After you get chickenpox, the shingles virus remains inactive (becomes dormant) in certain nerves in the body. Shingles occurs after the virus becomes active again in these nerves years...
Following on the (w)heels of Monday's post about mobile hangover care, we have this breast cancer-related item:"An industry known for selling sex is doing its part to save women’s breasts – as well as their lives. Porn star Bree Olson ... used her assets to raise awareness for breast cancer by hosting a breast exam bus tour...
As the economy continues to founder, more and more folks find themselves "underemployed." That is, able to find a job or two, but only on a part-time basis. While that may, in fact, put food on the table and keep a roof over one's head, it creates another problem:"Fewer workers say they have access to employer-sponsored health coverage."That's because, in order to be eligible for group cover, one...
It's been a while since we reported on efforts by some of the 58 states to force life insurers to keep better track of their customers and beneficiaries. Unfortunately, this doesn't mean that said states have been idle in their efforts:"MetLife's Landmark Unclaimed Property Settlement Could Approach $700 Million - the settlement...
From email:"It was announced on April 2, 2012, that the FTC commissioners, in a 3-to-1 vote, allowed the merger of Express Scripts, Inc. (ESI) and Medco Health Solutions, Inc. (Medco), pharmacy benefit management partner for [several carriers]."Perhaps anticipating the usual glitches, the email included this helpful codicil:"Please...
This is heartening:"[T]he new treatment, which involves heating only the tumours with a highly focused ultrasound, will mean men can be treated without an overnight stay in hospital and avoiding the distressing side effects associated with current therapies."Having written life insurance on several PC survivors, I'm aware of how much pain and trauma can be involved. And although it's among the most...
Maybe. Alert reader Paul D tips us to this little gem:"The Missouri House thinks the dreaded federal health care reform law is a crime. Or at least a misdemeanor ... the Missouri state House has passed a bill declaring the Affordable Care Act unconstitutional and therefore "altogether void and of no force."Book 'em, Dano, ...
From the "Finding New Health Care Markets" Department:"Dalia ... was one of the first patients on the rollout day of a mobile treatment center for tourists who spent the night before drinking ... For a fee, they get a quick morning-after way to rehydrate, rejuvenate and resume their revelry."Sure beats a Cuppa Joe or a 5-Hour...
Medicare and an election year. Strange bedfellows to say the least. What could be more tailor made for a re-election bid than playing political football with 12 million voters on Medicare?Add in a political slush fund that does not require Congressional approval or oversight. Money that is controlled by the department of Health...
Time again for an update on the on-going battle between life insurers and would-be viatical investors. This time out, the Fortress Investment Group bought a thousand "junk" policies in the hopes that at least a few would pay out the big bucks.What's a "junk" policy, you ask?Well, it's a new term to me, as well; it seems to refer to policies other investors had dumped on the market as it became more...
Content Warning: While this is, in fact, a post about a specific type of life insurance claim, it refers to a rather unsettling (and adult-themed) "proximate cause."Accidental Death policies are something of an enigma to me: the idea that one needs (more) life insurance only if death occurs by accident, as opposed to illness, seems absurd. You either need the coverage or you don't; the bank doesn't...
The world's smallest violin:"An increasing number of Democrats are taking potshots at President Obama’s healthcare law ... I think we would all have been better off — President Obama politically, Democrats in Congress politically, and the nation would have been better off — if we had dealt first with the financial system and...
■ On the tech front, Humana's developed a new app "that helps employees make sound healthcare decisions." Over the next few years, according to Humana, more than a half a billion folks will be using their smart phones to help them manage their health care.Who knew?■ From the "Scant Comfort" files:"Cost increases for health...
What happens when an American doc compares Obamacare to the British National Health Service? It is not a pretty sight:My time in the British National Health Service in the 1980s was a tremendous learning experience. England still has incredible clinicians who can do remarkable work with scarce resources. The truth, however,...
"UnitedHealth Group Inc. had no complaints about the effects of the new medical loss ratio (MLR) on first-quarter earnings ... MLR-related adjustment added $130 million to its profits for the quarter."Why does HHS Secretary Shecantbeserious love insurance carriers so much?UPDATE (from comments): Bob notes some additional issues...
Regarding the recent VEBA post, I did want to mention something else I learned in that class: Short Term Medical plan alternatives.As Bob noted a while back, Short Term Medical (STM) plans are a convenient and relatively inexpensive way to bridge the gap between coverage (eg new job waiting period) but do have some definite...
