Any Health Care Optimists Out There?
Lost in much of the federal budget news was a projection by the Congressional Budget Office, reported in Monday’s New York Times, that the country will spend 15 percent less on Medicare and Medicaid in...
View ArticleNew InfoStat Study on Premium Increases
HealthPocket has released its third InfoStat report examining consumer issues in the healthcare market. The latest InfoStat examined the prevalence of increasing the premium after a consumer has...
View ArticleHealthPocket in the News!
We’ve received some nice press attention as of late. See today’s CNN article “4 ways to control your health care costs” where HealthPocket is recommended. “Searching for Medicaid or Medicare options,...
View Article‘Weak Signal’ for ACA or Unrelated Issue?
The Obama Administration has suspended new enrollment for the Pre-Existing Conditions Insurance Plan (PCIP) as well as cut benefits for existing enrollees. The PCIP was created by the Affordable Care...
View ArticleBig Data in Healthcare
In the The Hill’s Congress Blog, Deven McGraw questions the wisdom of the Obama Administration’s proposal to create a central database of health insurance claims for multi-state health plans. He...
View ArticleHealthcare Technology & Information Overload
A Time Magazine article wrote about the results of a recent study published in the of the American Medical Association (JAMA). It found that among the primary care practitioners VA researchers...
View ArticleNew Study on Essential Health Benefits
HealthPocket released a new InfoStat investigating how may existing health plans meet the ACA’s new Essential Health Benefits standards. Approximately 30 coverage features representing the ten...
View ArticleIf You Were In Control of Health Reform…
The subject of health reform will be news headlines for years to come as the Affordable Care Act is implemented and its results are evaluated. Many people across the political spectrum believe there is...
View ArticleShould Exchanges Require Insurers to Bid?
Both Vermont and California are requiring health insurance companies to submit bids for the opportunity to sell health plans within their respective state exchanges. Will this lead to more affordable...
View ArticleHow Obamacare Will Impact Your Taxes
Guest blog post by Jenifer Dorsey As we move closer to 2014, we learn more details about the Affordable Care Act—how it works and how we pay for it. This week, major insurers warned consumers about...
View ArticleWill Small Businesses Choose to Self-Insure?
Kaiser Health News, in collaboration with USA Today, recently wrote an article asking whether small businesses will exploit a “loophole” in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) that would allow them to avoid...
View ArticleThe Law of Unintended Consequences…
New regulations were enacted in 2011 to reduce the number of hours worked by first-year medical interns in order to decrease physician errors and increase patient safety. The rationale for the more...
View ArticleMedicare Signals To Ponder
Today’s New York Times contains an important story describing a potential meeting of the minds between the President and Congressional Republicans that, if implemented, would make significant changes...
View ArticleWhat Does The Average Person Know About Obamacare?
We are now in the final countdown phase of the Affordable Care Act. In six months Open Enrollment will begin and millions of consumers will be faced with the decision of which new Obamacare plan should...
View ArticleEmployee Choices & Small Business Exchanges
A New York Times article published this past Monday announced that most states will be unable to provide employees multiple health plan choices within their new health insurance marketplaces (a.k.a....
View ArticleCoverage, Adherence, Medical Claims
As I’ve had the benefit of trading predictions of future health reform results with people from all political persuasions, I’ve been thinking back to the implementation of Medicare Part D, the...
View ArticleHealth Insurance, Age, and Gender
We just released our latest InfoStat this morning. It examines how age and gender affect health insurance premiums. The results of the study also inform our opinion on whether the new 300% limit on...
View ArticlePrayers for Boston…
“These are the times that try men’s souls,” wrote Thomas Paine in 1776 at the beginning of the pamphlet series The American Crisis. While writing of the American Revolution, the words have resonance...
View ArticleAnother Visit from the Law of Unintended Consequences…
In an earlier blog post, I wrote about the “law of unintended consequences” in healthcare reform. I came across a presentation from the Society of Actuaries (SOA) that reminded me of this issue. The...
View ArticleIs Washington State a Bellwether?
A recent Associated Press story explored a proposal in Washington State to use health reform plans for a purpose unimagined by the original legislation. Some lawmakers in Washington have proposed...
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