Content tagged with 'Health Care Cost'
Credit Card Debt Leads Some to Skip Medical Care
HBNS STORY | April 25, 2013
People with outstanding credit card or medical debt were more likely to delay or avoid medical or dental care, finds a new study in the Journal of Health and Social Behavior.
Smoke-Free Public Housing Would = Better Health and Savings
HBNS STORY | April 16, 2013
Establishing smoke-free policies for public housing would help protect residents, visitors and employees from the harmful effects of smoking and result in significant cost savings, reports a new study in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.
How the President’s Medicare Proposals Affect Seniors’ Pocketbooks
PREPARED PATIENT BLOG | April 16, 2013 | Trudy Lieberman
The president’s budget proposals released last week call for more seniors to pay more money for their Medicare benefits. While the president’s plan to require beneficiaries to pay higher premiums came as no surprise to Washington insiders, it probably was to people who will feel the pinch.
Alcohol and Mental Health Problems a Costly Combo for ICU Patients
HBNS STORY | April 16, 2013
People admitted to a hospital ICU with alcohol withdrawal were more likely to be readmitted or die within a year if they had a co-existing mental health condition, finds a new study in Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research.
Unwilling to Pay Extra for Wellness
HBNS STORY | April 9, 2013
Although most overweight adults agree that health insurance benefits designed to promote weight loss are a good idea, they don’t want to pay extra for them, finds a new study in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.
Health Care Consumers Are Compromised By Complex Information
PREPARED PATIENT BLOG | April 4, 2013 | Jane Sarasohn Kahn
Americans have embraced their role as consumers in virtually every aspect of life: making travel plans, trading stock, developing photos, and purchasing goods like cars and washing machines. That is, in every aspect of life but health care.
Making Seniors on Medicare Have More Skin in the Game
PREPARED PATIENT BLOG | March 26, 2013 | Trudy Lieberman
The movement is growing, it seems, for making people who rely on Medicare have more skin-in-the-game. In the minds of some, seniors and the disabled pay too little for their health care and their Medicare benefits…
Those Confusing EOBs…Once Again!
PREPARED PATIENT BLOG | February 27, 2013 | Trudy Lieberman
Let’s face it. Despite all the rhetoric about health care transparency, most health care providers really don’t want patients to know the price of their products and services.
Buying Health Care from a Boutique
PREPARED PATIENT BLOG | February 20, 2013 | Trudy Lieberman
Somehow, I don’t think of money-back guarantees when I think about going to the doctor. Yet as textbook marketing principles creep into health care, a few medical providers are beginning to look like sellers of toothpaste and detergents.
Getting Your Operation at a Cut-Rate Surgery Center
PREPARED PATIENT BLOG | January 29, 2013 | Trudy Lieberman
Consumerism in health care is coming to mean patients must shop around for the best price — for a doctor’s visit, Cipro, health insurance and maybe even your next operation.
Does the U.S. Get Value for Its Health Care Dollars?
PREPARED PATIENT BLOG | January 23, 2013 | Trudy Lieberman
It’s hardly a secret that the U.S. is spending close to 18 percent of its GDP (or $8,362 per person) on health care — more than any other country. So it’s fair to ask exactly what we’re getting for our money.
How Much Will Your Health Care Cost?
PREPARED PATIENT RESOURCE | Pay For Your Health Care
It can be difficult to find out ahead of time how much a medical procedure or test will cost you.
What the Next Fiscal Showdown Has to Do with Health Care
PREPARED PATIENT BLOG | January 16, 2013 | Trudy Lieberman
The New Year'??s Day deal between the White House and Republicans postponed the long-awaited debate over cutting Social Security and Medicare. But in the next few weeks, Beltway talk will again turn to slicing these interrelated social insurance programs.
Rising Cost of Inpatient Care Linked to Medical Devices and Supplies
HBNS STORY | August 29, 2012
Inpatient hospital treatment accounts for the largest proportion of health care spending in the U.S., with the use of diagnostic imaging services such as MRIs, frequently implicated as the probable cause. A new analysis in Health Services Research finds that the biggest expense may not be imaging technology but from supplies including medical devices, such as stents and artificial joints.
How Do We Know if the Price is Right (if We Can’t Find Out What the Price is)?
PREPARED PATIENT BLOG | August 29, 2012 | Jessie Gruman
“Health care costs are sky-rocketing!” “The percentage of the U.S. GDP devoted to heath care costs is the highest in the world.” “The cost of Medicare is unsustainable.” For most of us, the cost of health care (i.e., the dollars required by the system to produce and deliver care) isn’t what brings us the most anxiety.
People with Few Assets Less Likely to Plan for End-of-Life Health Care
HBNS STORY | August 16, 2012
Socioeconomic status is a big predictor of how likely people are to have living wills, a power of attorney for health care decisions or to participate in informal discussions about treatment preferences with loved ones. People with few assets were half as likely as those of more means to plan for these end-of-life concerns, a new study in the Journal of Health and Social Behavior finds.
Doctors Who Share Patients May Provide Lower Cost Care
HBNS STORY | July 31, 2012
Patients with diabetes or congestive heart failure who receive care from doctors with high levels of patient overlap have lower total health care costs and lower rates of hospitalization, according to a new study in the Journal of General Internal Medicine.
In the Dark on Costs of Care
PREPARED PATIENT BLOG | July 2, 2012 | Conversation Continues
'If gas stations worked like health care, you wouldn't find out until the pump switched off whether you paid $3 or $30 a gallon." ' Consumer Reports
Guest Blog: How Much Does It Cost to Have an Appendectomy?
PREPARED PATIENT BLOG | June 7, 2012 | Kenny Lin
A few years ago, a good friend of mine who holds bachelor's and law degrees from Ivy League schools lost his job and became one of the estimated 50 million medically uninsured persons in the U.S. Over the course of several days, he developed increasingly severe abdominal pain, fever, and vomiting.
Guest Blog: High Health Cost Does Not Guarantee Quality
PREPARED PATIENT BLOG | June 4, 2012 | Toni Brayer
The new buzzword in Medicine these days is "value based purchasing". It's not a new concept...everyone wants to get their money's worth, whether it is a new car, a meal at a fancy restaurant or the best medical care. Without clear information on quality, however, many patients assume that more expensive care is better care.
Worried about the Cost and Quality of Health Care
PREPARED PATIENT BLOG | May 29, 2012 | Conversation Continues
9 out of 10 sick people, (those with a serious illness, medical condition, injury or disability), are worried about the costs of medical care according to a new poll from RWJF/Harvard, 'What It's Like to be Sick in America'.
What if Your Hotel Bill Was Like a Hospital Bill?
PREPARED PATIENT BLOG | March 6, 2012 | Conversation Continues
Health care costs are notoriously opaque, often leaving patients saddled with unexpectedly high bills and making it challenging for them to understand their expenses. To make matters more complicated, doctors, nurses and other caregivers are seldom in a position to understand how their decisions impact what patients pay for care.
Employee Wellness Programs Provide Significant Savings Over Time
HBNS STORY | March 6, 2012
Employees who participated in a health-improvement program had fewer medical costs than non-participants, according to a new report in the American Journal of Health Promotion. In addition, three year employer savings outpaced the program costs with a return on investment of almost $3 to $1.
Guest Blog: Costs of Care...and Coercion?
PREPARED PATIENT BLOG | February 28, 2012 | John Schumann
Nora, a third year medical student, came to me in moral distress. Ms. DiFazio, one of the hospitalized patients on her Internal Medicine rotation, was frightened to undergo an invasive (and expensive) medical procedure: cardiac catheterization.
Even Small Increases in Copays Affect Use of Children's Healthcare
HBNS STORY | February 17, 2012
Increases in copayments of only a few dollars for ALL Kids, Alabama's Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), led to declines in the use of several healthcare services for the children they affected, reveals a study in Health Services Research.
Health Care's Curtain of Secrecy
PREPARED PATIENT BLOG | February 14, 2012 | Trudy Lieberman
I'm skeptical that price transparency about health services will make the health care market more competitive, more honest, or less dysfunctional. After all, health care simply does not work like other markets.
The Price of Paperwork
PREPARED PATIENT BLOG | January 26, 2012 | Inside Health Care
It's said that time is money. In this case, health care insiders argue that Americans and U.S. health insurers are spending too much of both.
Guest Blog: How Much Does it Cost to Have a Baby?
PREPARED PATIENT BLOG | January 24, 2012 | Kenny Lin
My wife and I are expecting our third child, and our new insurance plan requires us to pay 20% coinsurance for all non-preventive care. Given the rapid rate of health care inflation, we thought it prudent to find out how much it would cost this time around. So, we asked for an estimate of the charges. It seemed like a reasonable enough request'
What's the Price on That MRI? Patients and the Price of Health Care
PREPARED PATIENT BLOG | November 23, 2011 | Jessie Gruman
A couple of weeks ago, I was asked to speak as a patient about 'consumers and cost information' while being videotaped for use in the annual meeting of the Aligning Forces for Quality initiative funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Here's what I had to say.
The Costs of Long-Term Care
PREPARED PATIENT BLOG | November 14, 2011 | Conversation Continues
Does long-term care insurance have a future? In this roundup, Nancy Folbre, Don Taylor, and Trudy Lieberman offer their forecasts and perspectives on its costs.
Patient Engagement: Expert Trudy Lieberman Talks About Challenges
PREPARED PATIENT BLOG | November 7, 2011 | Trudy Lieberman
This interview with Trudy Lieberman is the ninth and final of a series of brief chats between CFAH president and founder, Jessie Gruman and experts - our CFAH William Ziff Fellows - who have devoted their careers to understanding and encouraging people's engagement in their health and health care.
Health Reform's First Casualty
PREPARED PATIENT BLOG | October 27, 2011 | Trudy Lieberman
The Obama administration has dealt a mighty blow to one part of the health reform law by effectively killing off the CLASS Act, which was to be a baby step in the development of a national program to pay for long-term care.
Health Reform Loopholes
PREPARED PATIENT BLOG | October 13, 2011 | Trudy Lieberman
A couple weeks ago I walked the streets of Lincoln, Nebraska, talking to men and women about whether they thought Washington was listening to their economic concerns. Jeff Melichar manages his family's Phillips 66 gas station on the city's main street, and one of his big financial problems happens to be health insurance.
Benefits of End-of-Life Planning
PREPARED PATIENT BLOG | October 7, 2011 | Conversation Continues
Two new studies have found there are numerous benefits when people discuss their end-of-life preferences with their clinicians and caregivers.
Cost of Care's 2nd Annual Essay Contest
PREPARED PATIENT BLOG | September 30, 2011 | Inside Health Care
'The evidence says that there are ample opportunities to save money in our routine decision-making without compromising quality of care'We are not only asking for stories about unexpected medical bills or difficulty figuring out medical costs, but also asking for positive stories about ways doctors and patients have figured out to save money, while still delivering high value care'' - Neel Shah, MD.
Guest Blog: Price Tags and Haggling in an Exotic Market
PREPARED PATIENT BLOG | September 29, 2011 | Daniela Carusi
While shopping in a market on an exotic trip, a friend of mine picked up an appealing item, but the price seemed high. When she paused to consider the purchase, the shopkeeper asked, 'Don't you want to know if I can do better?' But with health care, we can't predict what the final negotiated payment will be without knowing who is paying and what kind of bargaining position that person is in.
Cigna's New Ad Campaign Aims to Snag New Customers
PREPARED PATIENT BLOG | September 27, 2011 | Trudy Lieberman
Cigna launched a $25 million 'GO YOU' national branding campaign last week signaling that they are gearing up for tons of new customers as health reform rolls towards 2014. That new business will come from the millions of Americans now uninsured who will start getting government subsidies as an encouragement to buy health insurance coverage.
Guest Blog: Connections between Fiscal and Physical Health
PREPARED PATIENT BLOG | September 20, 2011 | Jane Sarasohn Kahn
The relationship between economic development and population health has been long documented ' the health of a nation's economy does impact the health of its individuals. In this case, the connection between one's financial 'health' (foreclosure rates in particular) and one's physical/emotional health is looked at specifically.
Turning 65: A Medicare Snafu
PREPARED PATIENT BLOG | September 13, 2011 | Trudy Lieberman
I didn't expect to write a sequel to my seven-part series about signing up for Medicare. Just when I thought I was on the program, and all was fine, it wasn't. After I submitted two bills for routine exams, I learned Medicare would not cover them as my primary carrier. That threw me into a tizzy. All my years of reporting about the program taught me that once you retire Medicare is primary.
When the Insurance Company Says 'No'
PREPARED PATIENT BLOG | August 12, 2011 | Trudy Lieberman
Blue Cross just advised a twenty-six-year old woman I know that it will cut off payments for the physical therapy that was making it possible for her to sit at a keyboard for eleven hours a day. Her thirty sessions were up.
Guest Blog: Niseritide, the 'Lost Decade', and the Pinto
PREPARED PATIENT BLOG | July 21, 2011 | Patricia Salber
Eric Topol, MD wrote an interesting commentary in the July 7, 2011 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, titled 'The Lost Decade of Nesiritide.' Nesiritide is a drug for heart failure symptoms (e.g., shortness of breath) that was approved by the FDA in 2001. Since that time, according to Dr. Topol, 'well more than $1 Billion was wasted on purchasing the drug.'
'Is a Cheaper, Effective Option Available?' An Important Question to Ask
PREPARED PATIENT BLOG | July 18, 2011 | Conversation Continues
The Costs of Care blog, "Hidden Costs of Medication", reinforces the importance of asking, 'How expensive is this treatment?" and "Is a less expensive option available?'
Health Insurance Doesn’t Always Protect People From Medical Debt
HBNS STORY | June 30, 2011
A new study confirms that having health insurance coverage is no guarantee against accumulating medical debt for working-age adults.
Serious Distress Linked to Higher Health Care Spending
HBNS STORY | May 12, 2011
Sufferers of serious psychological distress spend an average of $1,735 more on health care each year compared to those without the condition.
When Doctors Own or Lease MRI, Back Scans and Surgery More Likely
HBNS STORY | April 26, 2011
When doctors can self-refer for MRI, patients are more apt to receive scans – and even surgery – for low back pain.
How Code Creep Boosts the Price of Health Care
PREPARED PATIENT BLOG | March 22, 2011 | Trudy Lieberman
About 30 years ago I had my first run-in with code creep. A urologist I had visited for a garden-variety urinary tract infection billed $400 to determine that this was what I had. The price seemed excessive, and then I looked at the bill. The good doctor has 'unbundled' his services. He charged for every single thing he did'inserting a catheter, taking a urine sample, writing a prescription and finally adding a fee for a general office visit. I had thought all those things were part of the office visit. I protested. He reduced his charges, and I never went back.
Taking Diabetes Medication Helps Lower Medical Costs, Slightly
HBNS STORY | March 18, 2011
A new study shows that diabetes patients who do a better job of taking their medication have slightly lower health care costs.
Will Medical Bankruptcy Be a Ghost of the Past?
PREPARED PATIENT BLOG | March 15, 2011 | Trudy Lieberman
During the health care debates, didn't you hear the president repeatedly tell the crowds that reform would mean that people would no longer be forced into bankruptcy because of illness? Insuring people who previously had no insurance does give them a cushion of protection and will mean that some of them will avoid bankruptcy court'but not all.
Reform Is Not To Blame For Rising Health Care Costs
PREPARED PATIENT BLOG | March 7, 2011 | Jim Jaffe
In a development so predictable that it hardly merits being called news, American health care costs continue to rise and opponents of the new health reform law say the Obama plan is to blame. Some small employers report massive insurance premium increases.
Patient Perspectives: Paying for Health Care
PREPARED PATIENT BLOG | March 4, 2011 | CFAH Staff
This week's roundup features the patient voices of Brad Wright and Monte Jaffe and the decisions they made when faced with expensive health care costs.
How the Cost of Health Care Creeps Up and Up
PREPARED PATIENT BLOG | March 1, 2011 | Trudy Lieberman
In a previous post, I talked about what happens when a radiology practice goes digital for mammography, even though there's scant evidence that more-expensive digital is better than cheaper film for detecting cancer in older women. Yet the higher-priced costly procedure is winning out. That's pretty much the norm for U.S. health care, for instance, when ThinPrep replaced the conventional method for doing Pap smears. I used to pay $9 for the test; the one I had last summer cost $250.
More Americans Turn to Lower-Cost Alternative Meds, Especially Whites
HBNS STORY | February 1, 2011
Dicker With Your Doc? Not So Fast'
PREPARED PATIENT BLOG | January 20, 2011 | Jessie Gruman
'How to Haggle With Your Doctor' was the title of a recent Business section column in The New York Times. This is one of many similar directives to the public in magazines, TV and Websites urging us to lower the high price of our health care by going mano a mano with our physicians about the price of tests they recommend and the drugs they prescribe. Such articles provide simple, commonsense recommendations about how to respond to the urgency many of us feel ' insured or uninsured ' to reduce our health care expenses.
Inside Health Care: Are Patients 'Priceless?'
PREPARED PATIENT BLOG | December 23, 2010 | CFAH Staff
An inside look at the cost of health care: a physician confused by the transparency of Medicare reimbursements and a patient in San Francisco unable to afford treatment for an enlarged prostate.
More People Get Health Screenings When Deductibles Are Waived
HBNS STORY | October 15, 2010
Prescription Restrictions Cut Costs, But How Does Health Fare?
HBNS STORY | August 17, 2010
Chicago Doctor Reveals Hidden Health Care Pricing'.
PREPARED PATIENT BLOG | July 22, 2010 | Trudy Lieberman
Paying to Participate
PREPARED PATIENT BLOG | July 14, 2010 | Goldie Pyka
Lead Us Not into Expectations
PREPARED PATIENT BLOG | July 6, 2010 | Jessie Gruman
Have you noticed that when health experts discuss the high cost of care, they often assert that our demands for more and more advanced -- care are driving the upward trajectory of its cost?
How Can We Pay Less for our health care?
PREPARED PATIENT BLOG | June 25, 2010 | Jessie Gruman
I just completed a series of radio and TV interviews about the extent to which people participate in their health care you know, those three-questions-in-90 seconds blips that currently constitute news for the viewing/listening public.
Out-of-Pocket Costs Put Arthritis Drugs Out of Reach for Some
HBNS STORY | May 20, 2010
Our Shopping Problem
PREPARED PATIENT BLOG | May 17, 2010 | Jessie Gruman
Apparently, borrowers who obtained a home loan in the last five years spent five hours researching a mortgage, half the amount of time they spent researching a car and the same amount of time they spent researching a vacation, according to a study reported in The New York Times on Saturday.
Prescription Costs More Likely to Deter Hispanics in Study
HBNS STORY | May 10, 2010
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