…lecturer in medicine at Harvard Medical School. He is also an internist at the Montefiore Medical Center in New York. Troy Media Marketplace © 2014 – All Rights Reserved http://www.troymedia.com/2014/12/12/why-canadian-hospitals-outperform-u-s-hospitals/…
AHIP response to new rules on essential health benefits
Essential Health Benefits, Actuarial Value, and Accreditation Standards: Ensuring Meaningful, Affordable Coverage
…purchase insurance until they are sick or injured, driving up costs for everyone with insurance.” http://www.ahipcoverage.com/2012/11/20/ahip-statement-on-aca-implementation/ Comment: By Don McCanne, MD The Department of Health and Human Services has provided…
Healthcare providers to attend “SiCKO” premiere, speak out for a national health insurance plan
PRESS ADVISORY New York, N.Y. — June 15, 2007 — Registered nurses, doctors, and other healthcare providers will be out in force Monday evening, June 18, when Michael Moore’s new…
More Trump administration abuse through the rule-making process
Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act; HHS Notice of Benefit and Payment Parameters for 2020
…health care.” https://www.nytimes.com… Comment: By Don McCanne, M.D. The federal process of making arcane rules is somewhat elaborate, requiring publication of the proposed rule in the Federal Register to provide…
Selling the Obama Plan: Mistakes, Misunderstandings, and Other Misdemeanors
…the right thing, after having exhausted every other alternative.”11 References 1. Kaiser Family Foundation. Side-by-side comparison of major health care reform proposals. Available at: http://www.kff.org/healthreform/sidebyside.cf m?gclid=COnG3vD985wCFRkpawod4gzjiw. Accessed Nov. 17, 2009….
New arrival in the single payer camp: Max Baucus!
Baucus backs single-payer health system
…end up subsidizing drug prices for the rest of the world. http://www.bozemandailychronicle.com… C-SPAN: The Baucus 8: https://www.youtube.com… *** Comment: By Don McCanne, M.D. When Max Baucus was leading the legislative…
Medicare Advantage Profits Decline, Patients at Risk
With a post-COVID rebound in medical costs and tighter regulation of payment rates, private MA plans are seeing lower profits and share prices. Who will pick up the slack? Enrollees, If they have their way. MA woes may pave the way for insurance without extractive intermediaries. (See below a webinar on Monday.)
…costs, based on 2023 Commonwealth Fund study and STAT estimate of 2024 enrollment. CVS CEO to Wall Street: People in Medicare Advantage Are in for a World of Hurt as…
Three Crumbling Health Insurance Pillars
Three recent stories remind us that fundamental pillars of successful health insurance—affordability, provider payment, and use of resources for care—are egregiously failing.
Healthcare Affordability and Value Indexes 2021-2024, West Health-Gallup, July 2024 Cost security among U.S. adults dipped to its lowest level ever in 2024, down 6 points since 2022, to just…
Republicans’ healthcare proposal if Trump wins? More private Medicare
Medicare Advantage plans promise enticing benefits such as free monthly premiums for drugs benefits, but problems start when people fall ill
…program authorized in 1997 amid concerns about Medicare’s cost. Insurance companies promised cheaper plans with better benefits. One of the most important differences for patients is the imposition of “networks”…
UK National Health Service Resuscitation Implications for the US
In the United Kingdom, the first Labor government in 14 years must deal with Conservative fiscal and policy neglect of the National Health Service. This serves as a tough reminder of the US need for a durable social consensus on a public solution to our health care crisis.
…this country, and to secure its future for generations to come. Comment: By Don McCanne, M.D. and Jim Kahn, M.D., M.P.H. For decades, progressives in the US have been striving…
Hospitals, doctors drop private Medicare plans over payment disputes
…and commercial insurance companies,” said Chris Van Gorder, President and CEO, Scripps Health. Hospitals target private Medicare plans Many contract terminations involve hospitals rejecting terms for private Medicare insurance plans,…
Accountability for Medicare Advantage plans is long overdue
PNHP Comments on CY 2024 Advance Notice of Methodological Changes for Medicare Advantage Capitation Rates and Part C and Part D Payment Policies
…by a physician with the appropriate specialty or sub-specialty training. The new rules would require all MA plans to establish utilization management committees to review prior authorization policies annually to…