May 10th, 2010 by RyanDuBosar in Better Health Network, Health Policy, News, Research
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A newly-created index of consumer healthcare confidence has fallen steadily this year, reports The Thomson Reuters Consumer Healthcare Sentiment Index. Consumers report declining confidence in their ability to access, use, and pay for healthcare. The index, set at a baseline of 100 in December 2009, is now at 97.
More consumers reported difficulty paying for services and insurance, or reported a reduction or cancellation of their insurance. More delayed or failed to fill a prescription in the past three months or canceled a diagnostic test (such as blood work, X-ray or mammogram). Further, consumers expect the situation to worsen in the next three months, including putting off elective surgery.
Thomson will report figures monthly and has published their methodology online.
*This blog post was originally published at ACP Internist*
April 26th, 2010 by BobDoherty in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Opinion, Research
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This blog was written from Toronto, Ontario, where ACP’s elected Board of Governors met to provide direction on the policies to be advocated by the organization.
One issue raised by many of the governors is the enormous economic pressure on smaller internal medicine practices, and what the ACP might be able to do about it. Today, most physicians work in private practices of ten or fewer. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at The ACP Advocate Blog by Bob Doherty*
April 26th, 2010 by Shadowfax in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Opinion
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In the annals of “Things You Probably Wish You Hadn’t Said,” Sue Lowden, the Republican candidate to replace Nevada Senator Harry Reid, suggested last week that bartering for medical care was a workable substitute for the Affordable Care Act, which she is campaigning to repeal.
Surprisingly, after being called out and roundly mocked for the suggestion, she doubled down on the idea:
“You know, before we all started having healthcare, in the olden days, our grandparents, they would bring a chicken to the doctor. They would say, ‘I’ll paint your house.'” Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Movin' Meat*
April 26th, 2010 by EvanFalchukJD in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Opinion
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Giving people “incentives” to spend their money wisely is a growing part of the solution to rising healthcare costs. Give people financial responsibility for their healthcare decisions, the thinking goes, and they’ll make cost-effective choices.
It’s usually done by having people pay part of the cost of their employer-provided health coverage, and through things like higher deductibles and co-pays. Today, on average, people in the private sector pay 20 percent or more of the cost of their coverage. The trend is for this number to go up. But it’s not true everywhere. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at See First Blog*
April 14th, 2010 by Toni Brayer, M.D. in Better Health Network, Health Policy, News, Opinion, Research
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If you think the overcrowding in emergency rooms across the country is because of the uninsured, think again.
A new study in the Annals of Emergency Medicine reports that of patients who are frequent users (over 4 times a year) of emergency departments (ED), the uninsured represent only 15 percent of those frequent users.
Also, the frequent ED users were more likely than occasional users to have visited a primary care physician in the previous year.
They also found that most patients who frequently use the ED have health insurance and the majority of users (60 percent) were white. These findings contradict the widely held assumption that frequent users are minorities or illegal immigrants without insurance. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at EverythingHealth*
