More Doctors On The Way, But Higher Costs To Follow
More doctors are being trained, but some say the move could backfire since too many young doctors are going into high-paid specialties instead of primary care, which could exacerbate rising health care costs.
High Cost Of New Cancer Drugs Sparks New Care Struggle
Unaffordable new cancer drugs, even when they’re covered by insurance, are being rationed by price as patients, doctors and hospital officials struggle with how to pay for the spectacular rise in the cost of cancer care.
Rising Health Care Curve Won’t Bend, Even for Obama
A forthcoming report from the Congressional Budget Office shows that more than two dozen demonstrations projects launched by Medicare and Medicaid over the past decade have failed to stop the upward march of health care costs. But health care policy experts say the findings paint too gloomy a picture.
Soaring Health Costs Pinned On Medical Devices
The latest devices
Survey: Consumers Face Higher Health Care Costs
Employees will be experiencing higher co-pays and deductibles in their health insurance next year as employers continue to reduce their overall coverage to deal with rapidly rising costs.
Untouchable! Vets’ $52 Billion Health Care Plan
The military is trying to figure out ways to slow down the rapidly rising cost of care and the Obama administration’s 2012 budget calls for the first changes since 1996.
Medicare ‘Doc Fix’ Put on Life Support by AMA Lobby
The annual scramble to prevent next year’s scheduled pay cut for doctors who treat Medicare patients kicked off Thursday with physician leaders calling for a five-year program of guaranteed annual raises and a high-ranking House Republican calling for another short-term fix.
House Passes Ryan’s Controversial Budget Plan
Republicans on Friday passes a controversial budget plan championed by House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, and though it stands nearly no chance in the Senate, it is likely a starting point for negotiations among lawmakers.
Analysis: Medicare And Medicaid Get Squeezed In Ryan Plan
The House Budget Committee chairman’s alternative budget would provide Medicare beneficiaries with “premium support” and turn Medicaid into a capped block grant.
Chopping Block Politics Threatens Biomedical Jobs
For most of the past decade, Democrats and Republicans in Congress have competed over who could pour more money into the National Institutes of Health, the largest funder of biomedical research in the world. But the party is over.
Health Care Repeal Fades as Centrists Take Stage
As House Republicans hold a largely symbolic vote to repeal President Obama’s health care law, the administration won a powerful set of centrist allies seeking additional reforms that would be popular with many Americans.
Bending The Health Care Cost Curve: Pay-For-Results Insurance
Though it seems like an idea that can be easily attacked as a way to ration care, so-called value-based insurance design couples GOP principles of market-based incentives and consumer choice with the Democratic reformers’ goal of eliminating costly and unnecessary care.
Mixed Signals On Medicare Pilot Savings Projects
After five years, 10 Medicare pilot projects showed mixed results. Leading group physician practices were measured on quality, patient satisfaction, and cost savings. They all scored well on quality, but only half made the cut on savings.
Health Care Reform: Prove it Works and CMS Will Pay
When it comes to Medicare, where it is everybody’s money and overpriced technologies are a significant factor undermining the senior citizen health care program’s long-term financial viability, paying for products that don’t deliver better is out.
Small Cost Benefit for Tort Reform, More Primary Care
Two new studies show that neither tort reform nor an increase in primary care physicians will bend the health care cost curve as proponents believe.
Medicare: A Prevention Plan that Could Lower Costs
A new smoking cessation program could lower health care costs, even among seniors.
Breast Cancer: How Politics Is Driving Up Costs
In spite of clear evidence that the high-priced drug Avastin does not benefit breast cancer patients, politicians want the FDA to maintain approval.
Heart Disease: Why Costs Rise as Prevention Improves
The number of people hospitalized or killed by serious heart attacks each year is down sharply, new studies show. The overall rate of hospitalization for heart disease is down, too. Experts attribute improving heart health to the decline in smoking, more people getting treated for high blood pressure and high cholesterol, and the greater attention many people now give to eating healthier foods and getting exercise. Prevention clearly pays off for those who pay attention.
The Health Care Economy: New Questions About Costs, Quality And Care
The health care industry is bulletproof when it comes to increasing spending or creating jobs as growth rates often double the rest of the economy.
Quality, Economy, Transparency: A New Health Care Code
Wisconsin’s transparent health care costs and outcomes initiative is lowering costs.
