Well, well, well:"Late [Friday] afternoon, the Seventh Circuit granted an emergency injunction against the HHS mandate — preventing its enforcement against an Illinois business and its owners."The business, Korte & Luitjohan Contractors of Highland, Illinois, is a "family-owned, full-service construction contractor." In...
As major proponents of consumer-driven health care, this post at Avik Roy's place is a treat:"[Author Regina] Herzlinger describes the health care system of Switzerland as a case study in consumer-driven health care ... Switzerland, the only developed country with a long-standing consumer-driven health care system, provides...
But in a good way:"Expressing Anger Can Add Two Years to Person's Lifespan ... found that exhibiting self-restraint and holding back negative emotions could have serious repercussions for a person's physical and mental well-being."Jer...
Risking the wrath of the Mayan Gods, Van Mayhall has outdone himself with a terrific collection of risk-related blogetry.What makes Van's Cavs so delightful is that he's obviously read through the posts, and includes his own take on them.Do stop by (and don't miss the great Mayan digs).BTW: We still have some slots available for early Spring 2013 - just email us to claim yours....
As in "The Golden State:""California officials are concerned that the federal government might scale back its share of the costs under [the ObamaTax] ... state officials fear that the Obama administration won't cover as much of the law's costs as initially planned."What's so amusing about this is that the ObamaTax's official...
All this talk of the fiscal cliff is enough to drive you crazy. While the idiots in DC that can't balance their checkbook continue playing the blame game, it seems falling off the cliff may be a good thing for states in financial crisis.In an example of federal and state tax law interaction that gets little notice on Capitol...
Thanks to FoIB Holly R, here's an interesting story about the confluence of medical tech and health care, with a dash of privacy and frugality thrown in:"Those of us trying to lose some pounds after overindulging this holiday season can get help from a slew of smartphone apps that count steps climbed and calories burned ......
Health insurance is changing. In case you have been under a rock for the last (almost) 3 years, what you thought you knew about insurance, and Obamacare, is most likely 100% wrong. The idea of a free market with increased competition to bring down prices is a lie. There will be no free market. Prices will rise, not fall....
Here in southwest Ohio, we're getting our White Christmas a day late. It's quite beautiful, if treacherous, and the added treat of thunder-and-lightning is a real joy.In that spirit, then, here are some interesting (if disheartening) health- and health insurance-related tidbits:■ First up, co-blogger Bob shares this news on...
Not that I would ever question my academic betters but a quote from my previous post raised another question;"Hadidi paid $40,000 in Baltimore for pediatric orthopedic surgeon Shawn Standard to do a procedure called core decompression with stem cell implantation, which is not approved in B.C. for any child with the disease."Where does this $40,000 get accounted for, in US spending or Canadian?...
NHS has long denied treatment to patients that received non-approved care, often from the US where we are more aggressive in trying to save lives. Canada is following their lead. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2012/12/14/bc-specialistdenied.html"An eight-year-old boy with a rare childhood disease has been refused care by at least one Canadian specialist because his mother took...
Interesting Christmas toast:"When Ronald Aldom developed ventricular tachychardia, or an unusual heart rhythm, doctors decided to treat it a little unconventionally.Doctors gave a shot of neat alcohol, or pure ethanol, via a catheter"As we learned at the beginning of the month, straight hooch has some incredible medicinal properties:"Auckland...
Under Obamacare, the federal government wants to rein in costs for Medicare and Medicaid patients. Starting in 2013 they will do this with a carrot and stick approach that rewards hospitals with "good" outcomes and penalizes those with "poor" outcomes.All this sounds wonderful in principle, but what does it really mean?The...
Having lost round one of religious rights vs Obamacare, the founder of Hobby Lobby vows to take his battle to the next level.A federal appeals court on Thursday refused to shield Hobby Lobby Stores from the Obama administration's contraception mandate -- and the fines that come with it for not complying -- in a blow to the largest employer to challenge the ObamaCare rule. In response, the Christian-owned...
The Insurance Information Institute (I.I.I.) has some good advice: make sure your expensive holiday gifts are properly insured. Whether it's that beautiful engagement ring or shiny new HD television set, thieves and winter storms pose a risk.A good place to start is a home inventory, and keep it updated regularly:And don't forget to call your insurance agent to make sure that new piece of art or set...
If you've ever seen Elf or the Rudoph movie, you know that Santa's workshop isn't exactly a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility. Nevertheless, he and his hard-working assistants do face some daunting challenges, not the least of which include reindeer and elf injuries, potential mid-air collisions, and more.According to...
Van Mayhall hosts the last Cav of 2012 next week. Entries are due by Monday (the 24th).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 postPLEASE remember: ONLY posts that relate to risk (not personal finance tips and the like). And please only submit if...
As our existing health care system winds down, it's worth noting how even the most vulnerable among us benefited from it:"[D]uring my wife’s pregnancy with our second child ... this fight changed from political to personal. This is Zoe’s story.The doctors examining the ultrasounds consistently made unwelcome suggestions during the pregnancy. They would find something “abnormal” on a test, and request...
Come join Julie Ferguson as she hosts a holiday-themed edition of the Health Wonk Review. If you've ever wondered why Rudolph's nose is red, well you'll learn about that, too.On a serious note, don't miss Jaan Siderov's very timely post on balancing privacy rights, Electronic Health Records and mental illness....
While I certainly appreciate the sentiment, I fear that stunts like this are counter-productive:"South Carolina state Rep. William Chumley, R-Spartanburg, S.C., has prefiled a bill, H. 3101, that could make trying to implement PPACA in South Carolina a felony punishable by a fine and imprisonment."Five other states have proposed similar legislation, but enforcement may be...um, problematic.In this...
As many are aware, there is a serious ongoing dispute between the Obama administration and employers - particularly religious employers such as churches, hospitals and schools - over the issue of mandated coverage of contraceptives in medical insurance plans. These employers have filed many lawsuits based on the First Amendment.Within the past 2 weeks, the Obama administration has suffered...
Co-blogger Bob, FoIB Rick B and I have been engaged in an email discussion about carriers using their reserves to "buy down" current premiums. The uncertainties inherent in the ObamaTax make it even more complicated.Rick got the ball rolling by posing this conundrum:"When ObamaCare starts, how will carriers be assured of enough reserves to cover all the pre-ex that they’ll be paying? You know...
North Carolina's Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan (PCIP) is shutting its doors to new business:Seems they've run out of funds, and the state legislature has closed the purse. Two classes of folks are "grandfathered in," however: folks who are HIPAA-eligible and those who are eligible for the Health Coverage Tax Credit.Some...
A very good question here is whether Xanax will be covered under the ObamaTax:"President Obama pledged repeatedly that his health care scheme would not touch the vast majority of Americans who are satisfied with their coverage ... "If you like your doctor, you will be able to keep your doctor, period. If you like your health...
Remember when our Glorious Leader promised that the ObamaTax would lower health insurance premiums by 3,000%?Good times, good times.Of course, FoIB Avik Roy just had to harsh our mellow:"Last week, Aetna ... held its annual investor conference in New York, in which company executives laid out their detailed assessment of the...
Obama promised our health insurance premiums would be (redacted) by (redacted). Now that we are almost three years in to Obamacare and our premiums have (redacted) rather than (redacted), do we feel like we have been (redacted)?Will our premiums really (redacted) when Obamacare is fully (redacted)?The healthcare law provides...
Seems like these days everyone wants to be in the health insurance business. The folks in DC are scrambling as fast as they can to earn your business via Obamacare and now hospitals want to be your BFF when it comes to insurance.Piedmont Healthcare and WellStar Health System, two powerful medical organizations, are moving into...
What happens when hospitals buy up doc practices? Well, they're now called ACO's (Accountable Care Organizations), but it appears that the only "accounting" is in the increased cost of that care. FoIB Jeff M tips us that:"Some routine cardiac tests cost more than twice as much in hospital-owned clinics as they do in independent...
Here's an interesting thing:"[HHS Secrreatry Shecantbeserious] expected to be running zero exchanges ... Congress has not yet appropriated the money to let [her] hire exchange employees."So, no money, no plan, and no transparency.Rotsa ruck, Kat...
The founder of Domino's Pizza is suing the federal government over mandatory contraception coverage in the new health care law.Tom Monaghan, a devout Roman Catholic, says contraception is not health care and instead is a "gravely immoral" practice. He's a plaintiff in a lawsuit filed Friday in federal court, along with his...
As noted in our sidebar, the new ObamaTax Exchanges are due to go online in about 10 months. That is, if all goes well. But how likely is that?You be the judge:"Only 15 states have told the federal government they plan to operate health insurance exchanges under [ObamaCare], leaving Washington with the daunting task of creating online marketplaces for two-thirds of the country."What's so amusing about...
Earlier this week, we posted our take on a recent HealthBeat blog post decrying the idea of raising the Medicare eligibility age. Forbes blogger (and FoIB) Avik Roy also weighed in, with a thoughtful and provocative post at The Apothecary. His thesis is that raising the Medicare eligibility age would be a major step in the right direction:"[I]n fact, raising the retirement age will help free up resources...
Hank just referenced this LA Times article that is dramatically headlined “Blue Shield of California seeks rate hikes up to 20%.” The article also suggests Blue Shield “. . . use some of its record-high reserve of $3.9 billion to hold down premiums.” The headline and article are misleading about rates, and the surplus suggestion is a bad idea that won't go away. The rate discussion in the article...
Contrary to popular belief myth, the ObamaTax will not "lower premiums by 3000%" Anyone with health insurance has already seen the rate increases (above and beyond medical "trend"), and it's only going to get worse.Case in point:"Health insurer Blue Shield of California wants to raise rates as much as 20% for some individual...
Could the Buckeye State save almost a quarter of a billion dollars with a new Medicare/Medicaid pilot program?Perhaps:"Ohio is the third state to get approval from the federal government for an experiment to improve health while reducing costs to care for a population of disabled Ohioans with multiple chronic conditions...
Last time we looked, Kelley noted that - once again - the government had chosen to kick the "doc fix" down the road. The "doc fix" is the temporary patch necessary to keep physicians' Medicare (and by extension, every other 3rd party) reimbursements from crashing to the ground.As Peter Suderman points out, the "doc fix" is...
It's often difficult to draw a bright line between policy and politics, but we'd be remiss if we didn't point out a rather glaring double-standard. Last week, we hosted the Health Wonk Review, which included this diatribe from Maggie Mahar:"Boehner proposes slicing social safety net programs ... he continues to insist that...
Michael Stack and Rebecca Shafer make their CavRisk hosting debut this morning with this week's roundup of risky posts. Ever considered the risks of using Social Media in your business? How about disability insurance for nannies? Do stop by.Reminder: We're scheduling 2013 Cav's, and need hosts for February and March. Just drop us a line to claim your slot....
Earlier today, we discussed the ObamaGotcha due in 2014, but inadvertently omitted one due in just a few weeks. The Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) fee starts out at the low, low introductory rate of just $1 per insured per year, then doubles the next year (such a deal!), and is then further "indexed" (a...
Medical Loss Ratios (defining how much of each premium dollar must go to claims) continues to wreak havoc with the health insurance business, with the individual market taking the brunt:"Large and small group plans seem to have done better in 2011 than in 2010, but individual insurance operations seem to have done worse"The...
By now, you've probably seen the news that, much like your phone bill includes a charge to pay for others' "free" service, come 2014 your new health insurance bill will include one to pay for folks with pre-existing conditions:"The [$63 per covered person] charge, buried in a recent regulation, works out to tens of millions...
