by Kevin Roche on Tuesday, March 2, 2010
The Centers for Disease Control issues a massive compendium of health facts and information called Health United States 2009. In addition to basic information regarding health care, it has some description and analysis of particular issues such as use of medical technology.
Tags: Devices, Government, Health Care Costs, Health Care Quality
by Kevin Roche on Friday, February 19, 2010
Much concern has been expressed about whether the FDA may make changes to the 510(k) and other regulations that hinder speed to market for medical device companies. A recently finalized guidance may actually help those firms.
Tags: Devices, Government
by Kevin Roche on Thursday, February 18, 2010
Personalized medicine is widely promoted as the future of health care. Several government agencies are examining the implications of growth in genomic knowledge and its application to medical practice. CDC and NIH are intending to create a Genomics Knowledge Synthesis Center.
Tags: Government, Personalized Medicine
by Kevin Roche on Monday, November 30, 2009
The Senate takes up its version of the health reform bill, creating an opportune moment to revisit what the goals of reform are and whether this bill will actually widen access, lower cost or improve quality. The answer is likely not.
Tags: Government, Health Care Costs, Health Care Reform
by Kevin Roche on Tuesday, November 24, 2009
The CBO released a brief report looking at the potential impact of various changes in federal policies on research and development spending for drugs. Current and future policies are not likely to encourage more R & D.
Tags: Drugs, Government, Pharmaceutical
by Kevin Roche on Friday, November 6, 2009
The Office of Inspector General issues a work plan every year which gives guidance on potential areas of mismanagement, fraud and abuse in federal programs. This year’s plan reveals continuing focus on hospital and nursing home payments and drug reimbursement.
Tags: Government
by Kevin Roche on Monday, November 2, 2009
The Congressional Budget Office releases its preliminary analysis of the House health care reform bill, finding it will expand coverage to most legal citizens and reduce the deficit.
Tags: Government, Health Care Reform
by Kevin Roche on Friday, October 30, 2009
Net neutrality sounds good to some but a Brookings commentary indicates it may cause problems for health care users.
Tags: Government, HIT, Telemedicine
by Kevin Roche on Wednesday, October 28, 2009
The Center for Health Care Strategies release an updated report on Medicaid enrollees with chronic disease, reaffirming how a relatively few patients account for well over half the total program spending.
Tags: Chronic Disease, Government, Medicaid, Medical Care
by Kevin Roche on Monday, October 26, 2009
An analysis from the CMS Office of Actuary examines the effects of the current House of Representatives health care reform bill and finds that while it would substantially reduce the number of uninsured persons, it would also likely significantly increase not only the federal deficit, but total health spending.
Tags: Government, Health Care Reform
by Kevin Roche on Saturday, October 24, 2009
A miscellany of interesting items for your weekend browsing pleasure.
Tags: Care Management, Government, Health Care Costs, Health Care Reform, Telemedicine
by Kevin Roche on Tuesday, October 20, 2009
The latest survey on the impact of reform in Massachusetts indicates that employers are continuing to offer good coverage, but costs, especially to small firms and their employees, are going up.
Tags: Government, Health Care Reform, Health Insurance
by Kevin Roche on Thursday, October 15, 2009
AHIP commissioned PriceWaterhouseCoopers to do an analysis of the Baucus bill’s impact on insurance premiums. The report, which has been strongly attacked by reform proponents, concludes that the weak individual mandate and light penalties will drive costs higher; costs which will be borne by consumers and employers through higher insurance premiums.
Tags: Government, Health Care Reform, Health Insurance
by Kevin Roche on Friday, October 9, 2009
The American College of Physicians presents its reform ideas.
Tags: Government, Health Care Reform, Physicians, Providers
by Kevin Roche on Thursday, October 8, 2009
The CBOs initial score of the Baucus bill suggests it will reduce the deficit, but there are many caveats, especially on physician payments.
Tags: Government, Health Care Reform
by Kevin Roche on Thursday, October 8, 2009
Having taken heat on drug safety, the FDA has issued a new draft guidance on risk mitigation efforts by drug companies.
Tags: Drugs, Government, Pharmaceutical, Regulation
by Kevin Roche on Wednesday, October 7, 2009
A Nature article explains how Britain’s NICE (National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence) works.
Tags: Comparative Effectiveness, Government, Medical Care
by Kevin Roche on Friday, October 2, 2009
Another study demonstrates quality performance and better cost benefits from Medicare Advantage plans.
Tags: Care Management, Government, Health Insurance, Medicare
by Kevin Roche on Thursday, October 1, 2009
A review of what money is spent on which children for Medicaid and CHIPS yields insights on possible cost-saving and quality improvement opportunities.
Tags: Government, Health Care Costs, Medicaid/CHIPS
by Kevin Roche on Monday, September 28, 2009
While the United States is often portrayed as having the most troubled health system among developed nations, every country has serious issues, including Canada.
Tags: Government, Health Care Reform
by Kevin Roche on Friday, September 25, 2009
AHIP presents evidence on the value of Medicare Advantage plans in delivering more efficient and effective care.
Tags: Government, Health Care Costs, Health Care Reform, Health Insurance, Hospital
by Kevin Roche on Thursday, September 17, 2009
Everybody says we need cost control and expanded access, but nobody wants to pony up.
Tags: Government, Health Care Costs, Health Care Reform
by Kevin Roche on Tuesday, August 25, 2009
USA Today published an article on the federal end-stage renal disease program. The problems are typical of most government health programs.
Tags: Care Management, Chronic Disease, Government
by Kevin Roche on Tuesday, August 18, 2009
While Massachusetts is the state health care reform example most often referred to in the discussion over federal reform efforts, Tennessee’s earlier program to extend coverage may also offer lessons.
Tags: Government, Health Care Reform
by Kevin Roche on Monday, August 10, 2009
In a letter to a Congressman, the CBO gives its rationale for how it attributes costs and savings to prevention and wellness programs.
Tags: CBO, Government, Medical Care, Wellness and Prevention
by Vita Advisors on Friday, August 7, 2009
Healthways’ Center for Health Research put our a report estimating that Medicare could save over $100 billion a year if beneficiaries entered the program in better health and maintained good health status.
Tags: Government, Medical Care, Medicare, Wellness and Prevention
by Kevin Roche on Tuesday, July 21, 2009
As health reform heats up, the public needs to be careful about what politicians say; they seldom are completely accurate.
Tags: Government, Health Care Reform
by Kevin Roche on Thursday, July 16, 2009
The CBO examines the House Tri-Committee health reform bill.
Tags: Government, Health Care Reform, Legislation
by Kevin Roche on Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Patient cost sharing reduces utilization, but appears to limit use of appropriate as well as inappropriate care.
Tags: Consumers, Government, Health Care Costs, Incentives
by Kevin Roche on Thursday, July 9, 2009
A number of reports and commentaries have recently been issued on comparative effectiveness research.
Tags: Comparative Effectiveness, Government, Health Care Reform, Health Insurance
by Kevin Roche on Wednesday, July 8, 2009
A new UnitedHealth Group report identifies $332 billion over ten years in administrative cost savings.
Tags: Administrative Costs, Government, Health Care Costs, Health Care Reform, Health Insurance
by Kevin Roche on Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Common Cause has issued a report detailing the amounts health groups are spending on campaign contributions and lobbying.
Tags: Government, Health Care Reform, Legislation, Politics
by Kevin Roche on Thursday, July 2, 2009
A recent Kaiser Foundation data note looks at attitudes on paying for health reform.
Tags: Consumers, Government, Health Care Reform
by Kevin Roche on Wednesday, July 1, 2009
A recent JAMA commentary gives a concise summary of the cost control problems.
Tags: Government, Health Care Costs, Health Care Reform, Medical Care
by Kevin Roche on Friday, June 26, 2009
Unhappy with its projections, Democrats have beginning disparaging the CBO’s estimates on health reform.
Tags: CBO, Government, Health Care Costs, Health Care Reform
by Kevin Roche on Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Reality appears to have hit the health reform train head-on in the form of the costs of expanding coverage. Maybe we should focus on getting costs under control and then coverage extensions would be affordable.
Tags: Government, Health Care Costs, Health Care Reform, Health Insurance, Legislation
by Kevin Roche on Monday, June 22, 2009
The CBO’s June 16th letter to Senator Conrad is an excellent summary of health reform and cost control ideas and implementation issues.
Tags: CBO, Comparative Effectiveness, Government, Health Care Costs, Health Care Reform, Health Insurance
by Kevin Roche on Thursday, June 18, 2009
Congressional Budget Office has responded briefly to the proposals by several health industry segments to create cost savings of up to two trillion dollars over ten years.
Tags: CBO, Government, Health Care Reform, Health Insurance
by Kevin Roche on Thursday, June 18, 2009
The Congressional Budget Office’s initial assessment of Senator Kennedy’s Affordable health Choices Act is that it would increase deficits by about one trillion dollars over the next ten years, but only increase the number of covered citizens by about a net 16 million people.
Tags: CBO, Government, Health Care Reform, Health Insurance, Uninsured
by Kevin Roche on Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Republican Senators have now introduced a bill to essentially gut federal funding or use of comparative effectiveness research, continuing an attack on the proposed expansion of such research for the purpose of controlling costs
Tags: Comparative Effectiveness, Government, Health Care Reform, Medical Care
by Kevin Roche on Friday, June 12, 2009
One of the controversial provisions in some health care reform proposals has been creation of a public plan, often analogized to Medicare, which would be an option offered alongside private insurance plans.
Tags: AMA, Government, Health Care Reform, Health Insurance, Payor
by Kevin Roche on Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Several prominent health industry segments have issued a follow-up statement identifying more specifically where they believe health care cost savings can be achieved.
Tags: AdvaMed, AHA, AMA, Government, Health Insurance, Medical Care, PhRMA
by Kevin Roche on Tuesday, June 2, 2009
A not-for-profit group that has been a vigorous proponent of health care reform has released a report, Hidden Health Tax, on the costs of the uninsured and who ultimately bears that cost.
Tags: Cost Shifting, Government, Health Insurance, Uninsured
by Kevin Roche on Tuesday, June 2, 2009
The American Hospital Association and the American Medical Association, in conjunction with a number of physician specialty organizations, have each released statements regarding proposals to help control health care costs by changing, even reducing payments to providers.
Tags: AHA, AMA, Government, Medical Care
by Kevin Roche on Monday, June 1, 2009
Massachusetts has become such a bellweather for health reform that every report analyzing the program’s outcomes is eagerly anticipated. Health Affairs, vol. 28, page w578 (May 2009), looks at some of the results as of the fall of 2008.
Tags: Government, Health Care Reform, Health Insurance
by Kevin Roche on Friday, May 29, 2009
The Congressional Budget Office’s most recent missive on health reform (available here) discusses the budgetary treatment of health care reform proposals.
Tags: CBO, Government
by Kevin Roche on Thursday, May 21, 2009
In informal responses to inquiries about the use of health risk assessments and wellness incentives, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has indicated that it will use the Americans with Disabilities Act and its general powers to limit the ability of employers to enact programs designed to improve the health of employee populations and control health care costs.
Tags: Government, Health Insurance, HRAs, Incentives
by Kevin Roche on Thursday, May 21, 2009
The Los Angeles Times ran an article on May 17, 2009, regarding Cesarean births. Birth services are a microcosm of the problems in the broader health system.
Tags: Government, Health Care Costs, Hospital